Some products become part of the furniture. Not literally, in this case but the Wooden Starburst Trivet has had a hold on people since we first stocked it back in 2020. Over 400 sold in two years. Our best-selling product of all time. This was the product we'd continuously get asked about when it disappeared from the shop.
And disappear it did, for reasons that felt, at the time, completely out of our hands.
Why we had to let it go
The original trivets were made by a craftsman in Russia. He was talented, reliable, and for a time it was a good working relationship. We'd order a large number, he'd make them then they'd sometimes spend several months in transit, while we waited patiently. When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, everything changed.
I felt genuinely sorry for him, our large orders were a significant part of his income, and he was an individual, not a government. But between the collapse of payment infrastructure (PayPal pulled out of Russia almost immediately), the practical impossibility of continuing to trade, and the moral weight of where that money was going, there was really no path forward. The relationship ended, and with it, our best-selling product.
The trivets went into the archive. People kept asking. We kept saying we didn't know if they'd come back.
Finding Andrii
It took a lot of time to find the right maker. The design looks deceptively simple but each trivet is made from individually cut and shaped pieces of wood, assembled entirely by hand into the starburst pattern.
When we found Andrii and his small family workshop, it felt like the right fit. He works from his home in western Ukraine, making each trivet from Carpathian beechwood — a locally sourced hardwood with no resins or tannins, which makes it completely food safe and naturally beautiful.
The fact that he's in Ukraine wasn't something we went looking for specifically. It's just how it turned out. We'll let you draw your own meaning from that.
The design itself
The starburst pattern isn't uniquely Ukrainian, it turns up across cultures and eras, from mid-century American design to Carpathian folk art. Andrii told us he didn't set out to recreate any particular tradition. His design grew from an interest in Ukrainian mosaic work, a craft with deep roots in the region, combined with the symmetrical ornamental patterns found in Carpathian craft. He arrived at the starburst almost by accident.
Making it through
I asked Andrii what it's like to run a small craft business in Ukraine right now —
In winter, he told me, electricity can be available for as little as four to six hours a day. Businesses have adapted with generators and power storage, but it takes a lot of planning and forethought. "We try to move forward in line with this new and unfortunate reality," he said.
He called it an indirect impact; not always visible, but definitely present. The mark the war leaves, he said, will be felt for a long time in everything they know.
The trivets
Available in two colourways — natural and two-tone — and two sizes. Hand-assembled from Carpathian beechwood. Treated with a food safe oil finish and only available in the UK from us.
Use as placemats/ coasters, as a pot rest, somewhere to put the teapot or simply as a beautiful piece of art.
We're so happy to have them back and at the rate they've been flying out the door, it seems they're going to be just as popular as the first time around!