Herman Gathege crafted a beautiful cutlery tray for Britta, organizing her kitchen while adding a personal touch for her girlfriend's birthday. What's your wish?
A request by Britta from Hamburg, Germany
Custom made cutlery tray:
Length: 80 cm
Width: 47 cm
Height: 6,5 cm
Hello,
I came across this platform and I think it’s a great idea!
I am looking for a custom cutlery box for my girlfriend for her birthday.
Since our kitchen is the heart of our apartment and we spend a lot of time in the kitchen, it would be great to bring a little order in our knife and cooking utensils drawer.
I would think again about the exact layout.
What would be most important, however, is the question of whether a knife insert for about 8-10 kitchen knives would be possible to integrate this with.
I haven’t seen that in the pictures yet.
I look forward to the feedback!
Stay all healthy and many greetings from Hamburg
Britta
The Journey of Creating Custom made cutlery tray: L: 80 cm, W: 47 cm, H: 6.5
Negotiation & Planning
Custom made cutlery tray: L: 80 cm, W: 47 cm, H: 6.5 - design ideas and artisan proposals
hello im Herman Gathege, a carpenter located in kenya ready and willing to actualize your proposed cutlery tray product
I would suggest that I make use of ply wood to create the tray,
it is a good material that would be easy to clean plus the material overall is light and with a nice finish to it would definitely be a good addition to the kitchen.
would you like the tray to be of a certain color?
if not color then maybe you would like it to have varnish instead?
or maybe go with the plain finish of the ply wood?
what utensils are you planning to have in the tray?
would the tray go inside a drawer or would it be an alone furniture?
do tell me if you have another type of wood you would have wanted to be the material for the tray.
I will attach the pieces together with metallic screws or wood glue depending on your request to produce a cutlery tray.
looking forward to actualize your request.
thank you
Hello Herman,
I am very happy that you want to do my project!
Plywood sounds great and a plain dark finish too, so it will still be easy to clean.
I want the cutlery tray to go in a drawer - I've attached two pictures. One that shows how I envision the layout and one cutlery tray that I like.
It would be important that the large kitchen knives fit in, as shown in the pictures.
If wood glue is as sturdy as the screws, then wood glue gladly.
Many cooking utensils go in the cutlery box, like the kitchen knives, shepherds, salad servers, cooking spoons, spatulas.
Many greetings
Britta (Automatic translation)
Hello Britta thank you for your reply, i will put into consideration all your requests inorder to fulfill the project, everything is set ready to begin.
Hello Britta I have made a drawing of the idea you sent me, i suggest € 67.7 to actualise your idea thank you
Hello Herman,
thank you very much for your drawing.
Could you enlarge the compartment for the knives and leave out the space next to it. It should fit at least 8 knives.
Could you paint the cutlery tray in a dark colour like on the picture?
That would be great. I would gladly pay you 100 euros. I am convinced that I get a very nice product from you!
Hello, Herman,
Thank you very much for your drawing.
Could you enlarge the compartment for the knives and leave out the space next to it. It should fit at least 8 knives.
Could you paint the cutlery tray in a dark color as in the picture?
That would be great. I would gladly pay you 100 euros. I am convinced that I get a very nice product from you! (Automatic translation)
hello Britta, I hope you had a lovely day [having a great day],
I will factor in the space that the knives will be stored as I create the tray,
I have had a look at the proposed color finish for the tray its a lovely choice and I am totally okay on working with that,
I see your request to have a different layout in the knife area I want to understand your proposition better,
in the tray plan around the knives area there's two spaces the one for knives and the empty space left of the knives area,
now would you like to have both as one storage for the knives or just make the knives storage area bigger narrowing the empty space on the left?
your price quotation of 100euros is good, I would be glad to work with that to actualize this project.
thank you
Hello Herman,
I have attached a drawing for you. Exactly, the knife rest should be enlarged and space to the left of it can go.
Does the drawing help you? (unfortunately I can not draw as well as you :))
I'm glad to hear that the asking price fits.
Many greetings
Britta (Automatic translation)
Hello Britta,
I have had a look at the drawing you have sent me, its okay, I will make the changes,
kindly attach a picture of all the knives to be stored there,
other than that I'm good to start the project.
Thank you
Hello Herman,
Great - I am very happy!
I've attached you a picture of the kitchen knives that will go in.
Many greetings
Britta (Automatic translation)
Hello Britta.
I've received the knives picture, i wanted to see how they look,
Yeah everything is set all i want is your go ahead to start the project...
Thank you
Many greetings
Crafting Process
How to make a Custom made cutlery tray: L: 80 cm, W: 47 cm, H: 6.5 – work in progress
Hello Britta,
Let me compile the photos then send them to as soon as possible either Friday or Saturday.
Thank you.
Hello Herman,
Feel free to send me the pictures. I am already curious how it looks!
Many greetings
Britta (Automatic translation)
hello Britta.
I was able to get photos for you I've attached them you can have look hope you will like the progress
just some final attachments then I will finish with applying varnish to make the tray look great.
I made use of screws in a way the tray will look neat plus keep its firm and steady structure.
thank you.
Hello Herman,
It looks great already!
I am very happy!
Many greetings
Britta (Automatic translation)
Hello Britta,
I'm happy that you like the current progress on the tray today will be the final touches including my favourite part, applying the varnish to bring out the wow factor .
Thank you
Herman
That sounds great, dear Herman.
Could you send me another picture when the knife insert is done?
That would make me happy. (Automatic translation)
Hello Britta,
I've added a photo with the knife inserter for you, right now im working on the varnish.
Atleast you can store knives from both sides.
Thank you,
Herman.
Hello Herman,
It looks exactly as I imagined 🙂
I am looking forward to the paint job.
Many greetings
Britta (Automatic translation)
Hello Britta.
Im glad you like the tray, ive done the varnish I will attach the pictures, I was wondering if you wanted it plain with the varnish because I wanted to incorporate some white prints symbolism of africa.. do tell me ..
Thank you
Herman
Hello Herman,
the color pleases me well, if it goes gladly still a smooth varnish.
Many greetings
Britta (Automatic translation)
Hello Britta.
The tray is complete and ready for you to receive.
Please do send me pictures of you with the tray
Thank you
Herman.
Hello Herman,
great, I look forward to the result and send you photos as soon as it is here.
Many greetings
Britta (Automatic translation)
hello Britta
the tray I made for you had some defects while transporting to the local urban change lab location, I want to work on a new design to meet at most quality specification with this in mind I would like to make use of clear varnish in order to attain a good finish plus give the tray a final good quality to give you at most customer satisfaction, I will keep you posted on the progress I make.
Thank you
Herman
Hello Herman,
Thank you very much for your update and your effort. Could you send me a photo of the finished product when the clear coat is on?
Many greetings
Britta (Automatic translation)
Hello Britta,
I will send you photos of the tray with the clear coat on.
Let me compile the photos.
Thank you
Herman
All right.
Thank you! (Automatic translation)
hello Britta
I hope you are doing fine, I've made good progress on the new tray I'm yet to apply the varnish on the tray but as soon as I'm done i will send the pictures thank you.
thank you
Herman
All right! Thank you very much for the intermediate status.
Many greetings
Britta (Automatic translation)
hello Britta
hope you had a blessed Sunday, I had a great day,
I have sent you photos of the tray with clear varnish finish do tell me how you feel about it.
thank you
Herman
Hello Herman,
Thank you very much for the photos. Glad you had a great Sunday.
I had a look at the photos.
With the knives there are now only 6 instead of 8. Could that be changed? Otherwise our knives won't fit in.
I had imagined the color to be as dark as the previous one, can that be adjusted? Please excuse me, but I thought you were doing the clear coat over the dark color.
Thanks in advance for your effort!
Many greetings
Britta (Automatic translation)
Hello Britta.
I have made corrections on the knife area then I did the dark varnish finish, i hope you like the tray.
Thank you.
Herman.
Hello Herman,
Thanks for the corrections - it looks great!
Many greetings
Britta (Automatic translation)
Hello Britta.
Im glad you like the final look on the tray, I'll send it to Noela for quality check and then in no time it will be in your possession. 😊
Thank you.
Herman.
Hello Herman,
That sounds like a good plan.
We are really looking forward to the cutlery box 😊.
Many greetings
Britta (Automatic translation)
Thank you for your patience.
Herman
Gladly. (Automatic translation)
Hi Britta,
My name is Noel Waiganjo, local operations manager, Kenya. I'm currently conducting a quality check on the tray. It's 6.7 cm high instead of 6.5cm. Kindly let me know if this will be as issue. I'll ship the tray to you once you confirm if it's good to go. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Regards
Noel
Hello Noel,
Thank you for your message.
It doesn't matter- I just measured the drawer again.
Unfortunately, I can not see the photos,
Greetings.
Britta (Automatic translation)
Hello Britta,
Noela has the tray, she will send you the photos.
Thank you
Herman
All clear!
Many greetings (Automatic translation)
Im well Britta.
Hope you are too
Yes,
I hope you do too.
I am looking forward to the cutlery box. (Automatic translation)
(Automatic translation) 03 Jun 2021 9:57 am: Britta
(Automatic translation) 03 Jun 2021 9:57 am: Britta
Yes,
I hope so too.
I'm looking forward to the cutlery box. (Automatic translation)
Final Delivery – The Completed Piece in Photos
Customer Photos After Delivery
The Finished Unique Piece – Individually Handmade
Reference: ON005093E-24733
Detailed Cost Breakdown
| Price | |
|---|---|
| Cost of material |
28.98
|
| Cost of labour |
8.05
|
| Cost of packaging |
8.05
|
| Cost of delivery to local operations manager |
4.03
|
| Subtotal – payout to artisan |
49.11
|
| Customer acquisition costs (advertising etc.) |
4.91
|
| Handling fee Urban Change Lab |
4.91
|
| Shipping costs from Kenya to Germany* |
50
|
| VAT (Germany)* |
11.2
|
| Total |
129.63
|
*Shipping costs and VAT vary depending on your location.
Each price shown is based on a unique, custom request. Final prices may vary depending on materials, effort, and delivery location.
