As a boy of five he already had the dream of becoming a furniture maker or carpenter. But things turned out differently: Ben de Valois followed his parents’ advice to first obtain a ‘real’ diploma. After no less than forty years, his dream came true in 2016: “I want to keep doing this forever.”
Actually it would have been quite logical if Ben immediately started his career in woodworking: after all, his father made the most beautiful cabinets and his mother was a woodworking teacher. At the time, however, it seemed wiser to choose a different direction. Ben studied civil engineering in Delft and after that 16 worked at Heijmans for a year, including as a project developer.
A great career, but the blood creeps where it can’t go. Ben: “All these years the dream of being a furniture maker remained in the background. My hands were itching so to speak. I wanted to make things on a professional level.”
From garden furniture to Christmas stand
In 2016 he dared to take the step and he has not regretted a day. Ben says: “With this next step I am fulfilling a long cherished dream. In 16 I started my company De Valois Woodworking but from 2016 I have been doing this full time.
I make custom-made wooden furniture, toys or other wooden objects for my customers. Quality and service are the basic ingredients. Together we look for a way to fulfill wishes in the field of furniture or other utensils. In addition to cooperation and contact with the customer, quality is of paramount importance. I use all kinds of materials in my furniture in different ways. I mostly use all kinds of wood.”
