Choose heirloom-quality, hand-carved kitchen goods
These high-quality, family-made products can be both kitchen décor and “instant heirlooms,” all while helping you prepare and serve food on a daily basis.
Interested in heirloom-quality goods for your home
that are not only functional and beautiful but could be great gifts to pass down to future generations? The Polder family of Polder’s Old World Market is committed to creating just such quality wooden kitchen utensils and boards. They are passionate about made-in-America goods and preserving heritage craftsmanship skills and products. They explain, “Our desire is to create high-quality kitchen tools that have a meaningful story and will be part of another family’s history down the road. We want to bring awareness to the importance of keeping small family craftsmanship businesses alive and flourishing … rather than letting them die out … in an increasingly ‘disposable’ society.”
STARTING SMALL
The Polders began making their Dreamware (wooden kitchen utensils and boards) in 2009. “Daddy” (Trevor) Polder had been the plant manager of a large railcar corporation that had to close down. He didn’t want to take a new job that required him to be on the road and away from his family, so the family decided to start their own business and strike out on an adventure. They started by selling baked goods, jams and jellies, handmade aprons and honey from their beehives at a local farmer’s market. Then Trevor carved the first few wooden spoons out of firewood, and they really caught people’s attention at the market. Many people encouraged the family to launch a website, and eventually they opened an Etsy shop, which is when kitchenware really started becoming their focus.
SIGNATURE PROCESS
All of the Polders’ Dreamware utensils are handcrafted from fine hardwoods. They cut their own lumber on the old sawmill on their farm. Once the wood is dry, they hand select each piece of wood and sketch the design on it. They then carve the bowl of the spoon out with chisels and cut the design out on a bandsaw. Then the piece is shaped and sanded until it is glassy smooth. They sign each piece with their signature, which includes the current year, their name (Polder), and “USA.” Each piece is then polished with their signature beeswax cream (they call it “Spoon Butter”). Their Spoon Butter preserves the wood and makes its natural color really come alive. Then they wrap up their Dreamware in beautiful gift packaging before shipping it to customers around the world.
OLD WORLD INSPIRATION
The Polder family finds inspiration for a lot of their designs in the rustic beauty of the Old World farmhouse and farming culture, both European and American. They explain, “Low light, copper pots, shelves lined with sparkling fruit preserves and aging cheeses, open-air markets with crates overflowing with produce picked fresh that morning, these are the scenes that inspire the aesthetic of our designs.” The Old World has always been known for fine craftsmanship and elegant design, and the Polders don’t see any reason why products of comparable beauty and quality can’t be produced today, right here in Virginia.
They hope that their handcrafted pieces evoke exactly the warmth, comfort and simple, rustic beauty of a charming cottage kitchen tucked away in a dreamy place. They believe that with a little creative effort and the help of vintage and handcrafted goods, we can all have our own cottage kitchen no matter where we live.
USEFUL AND BEAUTIFUL
Though many people look at the Polders’ Dreamware as art, each piece is meant to be used and enjoyed in the kitchen every day. They have customers who use their Dreamware as décor for their kitchens, purchase it as “instant heirlooms” to pass on to their children, and use it on a daily basis to prepare and serve food for their families and friends. They hope each product is a meaningful item with a story and a purpose. When asked what advice they give people about buying handcrafted utensils and décor, the family answers, “What better advice is there than that of William Morris: ‘Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful’?”
MADE IN AMERICA
Their own hand-carved Dreamware will always be the heart and soul of the Polders’ brand, but they are thrilled to be expanding their offerings this year in a way that will support crafters and their families from all over the United States.
“Our desire is to create high-quality kitchen tools
that have a meaningful story and will be part of another family’s history down the road.”