How do you make it clear that a handmade bank costs more than one from a furniture store? Does Nuts and Woods already succeed? And are there things you have to compromise on?
The people we build furniture for already know that. We are fortunate to meet many of the people who buy furniture from us. Right from the start, they value high-quality materials and craftsmanship and do not expect any products from industrial mass production. They have high aesthetic standards, often come from the creative sector themselves and know that manufacturing quality has its value. Often people buy several pieces from us and accordingly we can make certain compromises when it comes to the price: it is more environmentally friendly if more equipment can be moved per transport route.

Are there pieces of furniture that are particularly difficult to manufacture sustainably
For example leather furniture. Anyone who is familiar with leather production knows that so-called real leather actually has little to do with real leather since this composed of heavy metals and toxins such as chrome. For our lounge chairs, we found a unique leather production in Germany that places special emphasis on sustainability. The leather is tanned and dyed exclusively with vegetable substances, for example, tara pods. Materials such as steel are particularly energy-intensive to manufacture and therefore not very sustainable at first glance. At the same time, however, they have practically infinite durability and recyclability. Sustainability should always be seen as a holistic process. The linchpin for sustainable products starts for us much earlier than on the way of transport, namely already in the product design: timeless design, durability and the fact that something could be easily built differently from our bed later.

Do you think that the term sustainability is wearing out?
We believe that our planet is particularly in the process of wear. As long as this is the case, we are happy that sustainability is Word of Mouth and very much hope that sustainability communication will be continued honestly and transparently, even if some producers overuse it as a selling point. We therefore deliberately do not exhaust the topic on our website, quite the contrary. But the ubiquitous rethink and the journalistic and human interest in it shows us that an enormous change is taking place.

What is a craft for you?
The craftsmanship gives products a soul, especially in times when we are all manipulated with big data and smart data into algorithm-controlled, perfect consumers. With an increasingly industrialized mass and robot production, more and more people know to appreciate the real soul of their lovingly man-made favourite pieces. Such honest designs give a home a real character. It is precisely this type of culture that we should definitely promote.