Growing up with one grandfather who was a craftsman and another one who worked in the forest, it is no surprise that Kasia Karolczyk-Roj’s business Tu Las is all about wood and sustainability.
Tu Las means ‘here is a forest’ which seems apt since the company’s workshop is based in Poland (near Warsaw) in a very green and leafy area.
“Tu Las used to be a hobby as I love working with wood,” she says.
“My grandfather was a very talented craftsman, who would carve small pieces for me out of wood, so I knew how important it is to make things with your hands.
“My other grandfather worked in the forest, and I loved being in the forest and connect with nature. Both my grandfathers inspired my love for wood and eventually I turned it into a business.”
Launched six years ago, Karolczyk-Roj designed Tu Las’ first product, which is a shelf for glasses and bottles you can hang on the wall and is still very popular today. The brand now works with a designer, who is based in Valencia, as well as a copy writer and production team, while her husband takes care of IT.
Tu Las products are centered around being together at the table, she adds.
“We create items for serving food, preparing food, sharing food as well as to display on the wall.
“We use local wood types such as oak and ash, but also wild cherry, pear and walnut. We like to use the wood that is naturally imperfect. People thought it was weird at first, why would you want to show the cracks, but now they really like it.”
Indeed, exhibiting at Maison&Objet earlier this month, the company had a lot of interest from countries such as Europe, the US, UK and Japan.
“We cooperated with an Australian online shop about three years ago. Australians love our products, even when it was expensive because of shipping.”
Wood will always be the main material for Tu Las, with touches of stone through some of the products. As long as it is natural and durable, says Karolczyk-Roj.
“There is overproduction of everything, so we have to produce products that are necessary and not rubbish. When you buy them, they will last forever and you can hand them down to your kids and they can give them to their kids, etc.
“We encourage our customers to take care of the wood and we offer kits to keep the wood in good shape. When we produce our items we don’t want to have waste that’s harmful to the earth.”
