Sep 193 min read

How did Copper Knobs come about?

Every business has its origin story. This is how Copper Knobs started.

Decorating had always been something I loved doing and as a teenager I took every opportunity to decorate any room in the house.

I can still feel the joy of painting my hallway in my 20s, listening to Radio 4 on an old Bush radio and thinking I would be so happy if I could do this all day every day.

What took me so long?

I had looked at ways of making it happen but couldn’t work out how to make it work (remember this was in the mid 1990s):

I could do a course at a construction college but that would take years and I didn’t think I would feel comfortable in such a male oriented environment. I had never seen any female decorators so had no role models to chat to and we had a mortgage and bills to pay.

I carried on working in my jobs in HR and then Marketing. I enjoyed elements of these jobs but they didn’t make my heart sing. I loved my colleagues and the stability and routine. I knew I could achieve more, be more creative, feel more purposeful but my role was very defined.

In my mid 30’s I had twins which was amazing. It was also exhausting. I joined the legions of women who were expected to work like they didn’t have children and parent like they didn’t work.

For a while I did it all.

I was Wonder Woman.

Every day was planned down to the nearest minute and I felt like I was flying, until I couldn’t do it anymore and I fell. I fell fast and far and was signed off work, signed onto anti-depressants and after a while tried to fly again. My wings were broken, I couldn’t get off the ground. I was signed off again, accessed more counselling and carried on taking the tablets.

I was at breaking point. Something had to change.

Whilst I had been on this roller coaster I had been doing some bits of decorating for people and still loved it. When I had a brush in my hand, I was happy. The mindfulness of the activity gave me space to breathe and my brain seem to stop it’s endless churn. It still has the same effect.

I had also been working on some furniture with my friend Becky (we are now business partners). We had met at an ante-natal class and have been friends ever since. One day when she was going through a hard time I went to her house and there in the middle of the small lounge was a huge Welsh dresser. I asked what on earth she was doing. She told me she was stripping it and going to paint it and made her feel better.

We discovered a shared love of saving furniture and decided to work on a project together– I was thinking maybe a coffee table. The next day Becky called me and said I’ve found us a dresser for £50–I think it’ll fit in your car. Luckily it did. We put it in my dilapidated summer house and started stripping it back.