We noticed: Suzitt - dancing cabinets
For people who have not forgotten to play, Suzitt creates her dance cabinets. And in order to have them perfectly curled, she ran away from the profession of HR manager, studied the appropriate apprenticeship remotely and started playing. First with furniture for her daughters, and then she twisted her first big wardrobe...
With the next part of your favorite series "Interesting newcomers", this time we went to the carpentry workshop and we are looking forward to what you have to say about this life change. We are blown away :). Come and have another story from a number of creators who, in our opinion, have a good foothold and for whom it would be a shame for us to just fit in on Fleru. Perhaps you will find your new favorites among them :).
"My name is Zuzana and I am a carpenter." When I say this sentence, I don't really want to believe it myself, because my path to working with wood was long and took a lot of detours. But it's true: I'm a carpenter and I design and make my own furniture - loose cabinets.
For most of my life, I did not have any creative or do-it-yourself inclinations. Quite the opposite. For many years I worked as an HR manager in several manufacturing companies. Because of the workload, there was no time and, after all, no desire to think about something creative.
But then my two daughters were born and I began to look at the world and the meaning of life a little differently. Back to the office suddenly didn't appeal to me much anymore. I began to desire to do something "real" and bring more joy, play and fantasy into my life and the lives of other people.
For my younger daughter's third birthday, I tried to make a dollhouse. It wasn't very successful, but I was excited to work on it. I started another and then another until I ended up doing about seven. With the support of YouTube videos, I learned woodworking from them. I found that I really enjoy it. Even so much so that I signed up for a two-year distance learning course in carpentry. I finished it in June 2024, when I received the teaching certificate.
In the meantime, I changed my orientation from houses to danced cabinets. I found pictures of such furniture on Pinterest and it made me very curious. Could I make something like this? And how do they actually make it? Through trial and error, I tried to find the right production process and started inventing my own dancing furniture. Now I have the process figured out and I can play more with the shape of the cabinets and their surface treatment.
What influences and accompanies you in your work and how do you feel about it?
What do I feel while creating? Joy, excitement, fear, anger, curiosity, enthusiasm, disappointment, fatigue, ...
There are so many emotions involved in making each cabinet that I feel like I'm on a roller coaster. But the last feeling in the line is always pride. Pride in the result and in one's own perseverance. And that's such a pleasant feeling that I immediately start the next project.
Do you have any "rituals" of your own?
I don't have any. Perhaps just listening to music. Very loud. I change the genres, but most often you will hear hard rock or metal through the door, somehow it fits best with the general chaos in the workshop.
Where are your things made?
For now, I'm just dreaming about a big workshop. I live with my family in a small 4+kk house and I took one of the few rooms for myself. It's not a workshop in the true sense of the word - I don't have sawdust extraction or air filtration there, it doesn't get hot, so it's very cold and quite dark.
But I am grateful for my less than 25 m2. I believe that one day I will work towards more suitable spaces.
What does your product's journey to Fler look like?
As a seller, I am on Fleru for a short time. For now, we're just tinkering - I'll still have to fine-tune the style, captions and overall presentation.
It is clear to me that quality photos are the basis and that is a bit of a pain point for me. Photographing furniture requires space and handling. For now, I solve it by taking pictures of the cabinets at home wherever I can, and then changing the background using AI. However, it is not ideal and I am now intensively dealing with the issue of product photography.
Do you like Fler :)?
I've known Fler probably since it was created. From the beginning, I like the idea itself and how it was captured. I rarely buy, but very often I go to admire the work of other sellers. One is often taken aback by how incredibly beautiful things someone can make.
What feedback have you received from customers so far?
I have a large number of responses and they are overwhelmingly positive. It encourages me a lot to continue working. One of the most common objections is that having a locker at home would make the owner appear drunk all the time. Another lady wrote that she would feel that her home is not tidy if the cupboard is not aligned with others. Someone just needs right angles to life. We are all different and I think that's nice :-).
Do you go to markets and flea markets? Invite us.
Not for Flerjarmarky and similar events, they are completely unsuitable for selling furniture. But I am considering participating in the ForInterior fair in Prague - Letňany. It will be in April this year and it would be a completely new experience for me.
What inspiration can you recommend to others?
I would very much like to recommend everyone to google the work of Judson Beaumont. That's kind of my guru. Judson was an American furniture designer whose creativity and playfulness knew no bounds. His work pleases and caresses the soul.
For those interested in woodworking, I would recommend Bourbon Moth Woodworking's videos on YouTube. She makes them very nice and funny, I learned a lot from them.
What are you planning in the near future?
I focus on promotion. I'm at the beginning of my business and I need the world to know about dance lockers. An article about housing will be published soon in an online magazine. The filming of a report for a do-it-yourself show on TV Prima is also arranged. I will probably also go to the summer fair. Well, in the meantime, I will produce, produce and produce.
And do you have a creative dream :-)?
I have a lot of creative dreams. I am very tempted to try outdoor wooden buildings. First I want to try to make a garden house for children and later I would let it grow to the size of a garden gazebo. But of course they wouldn't be classic houses and gazebos, I need them to be crooked and twist in all kinds of ways. I can totally see it – every window is different, the undulating roof, the slanted walls... I'll definitely give it a go one day!