Furniture savior Diana Brötzmann has opened a Do It Like Bob boutique

Utin. Diana Brotzman has been happily in her training career as a wholesale and foreign trade writer. “I’ve always loved doing it,” says the 31-year-old. However, after 14 years at a building materials wholesaler, she asked herself the question: “What touches my heart, what am I passionate about?” She’s known the answer for a long time: crafts. She turned her life upside down, venturing into self-employment and turning her hobby into a profession.

Diana Brotzman was given the nickname Bob by her father – after Bob the master builder from the animated series, who not only fixes everything, but can also build, dig, paint and plumb. She was already interested in craft and skill as a child and teenager. Her father, a master iron and steel worker, was her mentor. “He showed me a lot and was very patient,” says the young woman. Her father died two years ago, and the name of her own shop, Do It Like Bob, is a tribute to him, she says.

Furniture preservation as a contribution to sustainability

Diana Brotzman has a penchant for revamping old furniture and fashioning new treasures. “I make it elegant so that it fits into today’s world and is in demand again,” she says. As a furniture savior, she’s right on trend. She says that every part she renovates is another step towards sustainability and preserving nature. In addition, people increasingly wanted something unusual and unique for their homes, for example, the old grandmother’s buffet became fashionable.

Sometimes with a sander, sometimes with sandpaper and a block: removing old paint and varnish residues from furniture is the first step towards a new design.

© Source: 54 Degree Agency

“Why buy a newly made piece of furniture when the world is full of durable and beautiful pieces of furniture just waiting to be given a new lease of life?” asks Diana Protzmann. Sometimes clients come to her with a cabinet or chest of drawers, and the 31-year-old renovates the parts according to their wishes.

Finds from flea markets and home liquidations

She found out what was on offer in her shop on Alte Lübecker Landstraße in Eutin at home sales, at flea markets or in classified ads. “What I like is the special. It can be the wood and the shape and the hinges and the fixtures,” she explains. In her workshop in Celent, finds are made with love. Furniture is usually painted with a different coating, and the back or side walls are covered with textured wallpaper.

Diana Brötzmann likes to line the inside of her display cabinets with wallpaper with a floral pattern.

© Source: 54 Degree Agency

Furniture Savior: Old furniture is durable and has special shapes

Clients had just presented Diana Prutzmann with an old pine sideboard, “probably from the beginning of the 20th century,” she says. It should be a gem in the dining room, country styled with a light coat of paint. Thanks to the photos she brings with her, she can get an impression of the room and the furnishings and make color suggestions. “But clients took samples home with them,” she says. Now the cabinet is given a creamy white color, only the outer edges are oiled, and floral wallpaper is pasted inside. Diana Brotzmann estimates that the renovation will cost approximately 400 euros.

What the young woman appreciated about vintage furniture “is that it’s sturdy, made mostly of solid wood, and has a special shape. I really like the Chippendale style with the curved legs,” she says.

Business opening: Word of mouth is effective

If you want to be a furniture savior like her, Diana Brötzmann will teach you how to recycle chairs, chests of drawers, and more. In their courses “How . . .?” she explains how to build pallet furniture, a standing table, individual plants or lamps. “I show how to do it, what tricks there are with colour,” she says. She also offers courses in painting.” I explain how You can draw an idea in two and a half hours.”

She’s 31, she’s a startup with her Eutin business idea and still lives off her savings. But word of mouth does have an effect. “More and more people are coming to me,” she says. For her, her decision was absolutely the right one at the right time. “I love keeping old furniture,” says Diana Brotzman. “It gives me great pleasure to extract the creativity of the participants in the courses, to see how they shine and become more daring. This confirms me in what I do.”