How it started with Vintage Paint
• Back in 1986, when Erik was 26 years old he fell in love with a beautiful historic house. It was built in 1874 and as it was in a very very bad condition, nobody wanted it..
His passion for this house had no limits and together with his wife Ineke he used all the money they had to buy the house and start restoring it.. What followed was a very long journey of many years with hard and dedicated work. Erik wanted to give the woodwork the right patina with the ancient look and he had to mix his own paint colours to achieve the desired effect. That is how his interest and experience with paints and ancient patinated colours started 38 years ago.
Erik is currently still involved in several renovations and restorations of historic buildings and also here he loves to bring back the beauty of ancient details and colours.
• In 2008 Erik and Ineke came across a Danish interior design company Jeanne d’Arc Living which just started. Erik & Ineke teamed up and Erik developed sales and extended the company to multiple new markets in Europe. Erik & Ineke became co-owners determined to develop the company further.. Jeanne d'Arc Living used to make their own magazine combined with home decoration items. Based on Erik's experience and the fact that the company was good in inspirational ideas for houses, Erik launched the idea to introduce our own paint in 2011..
• All available paint brands in the market were tested and noted all their pros and cons. Based on the fielt research, Erik made his own wish list…. It had to be an easy to use natural smooth breathing paint, which could be used for restorations inside & outside, on furniture & walls and without the specific need to finish or protect it with wax. With the laboratory team of an ancient Dutch paint factory, specialised in natural paints, they have worked 2 years to develop Vintage Paint. The new developed paint was so safe and clean that we could apply for the EU Ecolabel right away and also the EN approval for use on children’s toys, which both we passed with ease. Therefore Vintage Paint became an instant hit.
• Vintage Paint kept on growing and became the most important product group of Jeanne d’Arc Living. In 2020 we decided to split the company in order to create more focus for Vintage Paint brand. This made it possible to expand and offer more accessoires to our customers.
• Erik's passion for vintage paintwork and his persistence paid off.. but Erik wanted more than just a great natural paint: he also wanted it to make a positive impact on the society. Based on his earlier social work he knew there are many people who have a hard time finding a job and being a part of our society. Many are regular people, but with less luck having to deal with immobility, brain damage after an accident.. 90% of the production team consists of individuals from marginalised backgrounds who are provided with full-time employment opportunities. Erik wanted to give them a chance to participate in our society and company. Vintage Paint provides them a job they can take pride in, becoming part of a successful product range and team. Vintage Paint started with a trail run for the packaging process in 2014 and found it was a big success. People loved the work and we loved the result of their motivated labour.
• Erik's next goal was letting the workers collect and pack orders and manage the warehousing. A big goal, since no mistakes may occur in such a process.
A new and very costly software was developed, ensuring the company could reach their high quality standards while bringing our social goal to a higher level. All orders are now collected and packed by passionate workers. All these people have their own story and all play an important role within the company.
• Recycling and sustainability has become more and more important nowadays. Vintage Paint strives to reduce waste and use of plastics as much as possible. The natural paints and waxes are free of plastics and also in our packaging they don't use plastics like adhesive tape. They use metal staples to close our boxes. To preserve and protect our products while shipping they invested in a machine which shreds used cardboard boxes. It turns the old used boxes in a soft cardboard coat, which the workers wrap around the products. That really works very well and if offers also a daily job for 2 workers who love to do simple repeating work.
The end result fills Erik with pride: all these great workers fulfil an important role in creating a natural high quality and sustainable product on a social basis. This combined with the dedicated sales team and network of loyal resellers all over Europe and abroad makes Vintage Paint a very special company…
We paint the world a better place with Vintage Paint !
