2023-06-10 02:00:00
Being unemployed at the age of 54 and the arrival of the pandemic was not an impediment for Belén Otegui to decide to undertake a project to restore and create furniture and household items, an area that “I had always liked” but that “not at all » had contemplated as a profession. Encouraged by her family, she launched “on the adventure” of starting Liot, a project that houses a workshop and store in a “very charming” place in Tolosa and that “is working very well” with more and more orders and of diverse nature.
He started working a lot on transformation (mirror windows or barn doors, for example) and restoration (“updating and reforming old furniture”), until he was joined by the request to create custom furniture and also textiles and household items. Today “I do everything” for a very diverse clientele in which, to Belén’s surprise, there are many young people: “I never thought they would like and attract this type of work, but quite the opposite. Because they want their house not to be like everyone else’s, but to have something that makes it different, special».
It is the confirmation that Liot’s motto ‘We create home’ has its meaning, since “we always try to create personalized pieces with their own essence” that turn a house “into a home, a cozy space”. This is how he defines the philosophy of this project, which also includes the values of personalization – “always to suit the customer” – and sustainability, through a “totally” artisanal and handmade production that focuses on recycling. and reuse. “Throwing away is a shame, even more so if we are talking about those old furniture that give a quality and durability of which there are hardly any left”, he considers to make an appeal to “give things a second life. In addition to being good, it is very beautiful and the results are incredible” in this area that he considers “crazy” due to the “infinite combinations” that wood, ceramics, glass, fabrics allow… To do this, he has achieved a network of “solid” collaborating artisans, despite the risk that he sees in the fact that “it is a trade that is disappearing”.
“You take a piece of me”
The possibilities are as many as the imagination allows. And that is what Belén’s work is focused on, in a process, however, “very participatory” also for the clientele, since “I try to involve them in seeing and experiencing the process”, with the contribution of ideas and exchange of information and contact ” constant”. This is how she manages to create “very beautiful relationships” with those who trust her, but also with those furniture “with its own essence” that she creates: “They give me so much work, mainly the restoration ones, that I end up feeling like my own. A bond that I always describe by telling clients that they take a little piece of me with them.
This occurs at a time of delivery in which Belén feels “sorry, but above all satisfaction and joy when she sees those happy faces on the customers; and see that you have succeeded with the work. Is beautiful”. Her store in Tolosa is complemented by the sales channel that she has on Instagram (@ liot.home), where “despite being online, I maintain that local, close, transparent business service” that characterizes Liot.
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