Where it all began
It all started with a little story...
About a little person who could intensely enjoy the simplest things: picking fruit, harvesting vegetables from the garden, and transforming them into something delicious in the kitchen. In between, listening to bird sounds or an old song that suddenly makes you dance. Taking a break to read a book or letting your imagination run wild on paper with crayons.
I call it simple, but in this day and age, it really isn't anymore. We live in a world that is constantly moving forward. To-do lists are checked off, we are always looking for more, better, and bigger. While it's often the smallest moments that leave the biggest memories. True wonder does not arise from speed, but from tranquility. In the moment when you're not in your head or looking at a screen, but simply present. Because if you truly look, you see how much beauty is always around you.
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Doede reminds me that curiosity knows no age and wonder has no limits. That it doesn't matter how old you are, it's good for everyone to occasionally look at the world with the curious eyes of a child. Then you briefly forget the 'important' things and create space for what truly matters. Because it is very important to sometimes forget everything and just wonder, as you did as a child.
Little fun fact: Have you ever noticed that Doede has a stem, just like an apple? There's no deep reason behind it, it's just a bit of imagination. And perhaps also a bit from the love for orchards, for apples in all forms: apple juice, apple pie, apple compote, or just a bite out of a fresh apple.
Perhaps the first seed for Doede Market was already planted in my childhood, in my grandmother's kitchen. I emptied her entire pantry, which, by the way, contained many jars of homemade applesauce, which I loved to add a scoop of to everything. I carefully displayed all those jars, packages, and cans, as if it were a real shop.
It was already in the family, because my grandparents used to have a DIY store in the village where I grew up. My grandmother had always kept the cash register from it. When I came to her after school, the cash register would reappear, and I would set up a shop in her kitchen. Grandma would then come to shop and pay me at her old cash register. The sound of the keys, the drawer springing open, the piles of fake money. It gave me a magical feeling, as if I really had my own shop.
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For me, Doede Market is a kind of personal playground, where I can share stories and products that bring me small moments of joy every day. There is so much beauty to collect, and when you do it mindfully, it becomes your own unique collection rich in memories. So that your house becomes your home. A place you don't want to escape from, but where you'd rather be.
My goal is to let people marvel again at the beauty of the small and the magic that is always closer than you think. So put away your screen, don't look at the clock, and forget how old you are for a moment. Let your curiosity guide you and discover the quiet joys that surround us every day.
Love,
Pauline