Waupaca company started in garage
By Angie Landsverk
When Amanda Rasmussen could not find the type of furniture she wanted, she decided to start building it herself.
Pretty much self taught, she now employs five people at Furniture N Creations, the company she started.
“I always liked playing with blocks as a kid,” Rasmussen said. “Now I build with bigger blocks.”
Before she started the business, she first made a castle loft bed for her daughter Madisyn, who was age 4 at the time.
Rasmussen helped her late father Dennis build his house in 2004 and found plans online for the first pieces of furniture she built.
He helped her build the loft, which included a spiral slide, staircase and play space under it.
“She still has it,” Rasmussen said of Madisyn. “We took the slide down for more space.”
After that, Rasmussen built tables. Soon, an aunt asked her to build a daybed.
People told Rasmussen she should try selling furniture, but she put the idea off.
In early 2017, she listed her first item – a jelly cabinet – on Etsy.
“Within two weeks, it sold to somebody in Alabama,” Rasmussen said.
Orders via Etsy continued. By the end of 2018, she realized what she was doing could probably become something.
Rasmussen started working full time, using her father’s two-car garage for the building space. She filled it up quickly.
In March 2019, her dad started helping her full time, but he passed away unexpectedly that August.
Family and friends, including her mother, Kimberly Kruse, helped her get the orders out.
As the business grew, Rasmussen began hiring. Since she was still working out of the garage, she could only hire two people due to zoning.
She quickly started looking for a new location for Furniture N Creations and the Waupaca High School graduate wanted to stay in the area.
Finding more space
Last October, she found the space she needed in a vacant building at E4355 East Gate Drive, just outside of Waupaca.
Rasmussen now has five employees. Tim Vallery is a retired U.S. Marine who worked at the Waupaca Foundry for 28 years and has built his own furniture for many years, she said.
“Rachel Schick brings so much light to the crew and adds joy to the entire shop,” Rasmussen said. “She can take on any task handed to her.”
Kaitlyn Kohl is the newest addition and is quickly learning each station with a certain eagerness, she said.
Darrell Buck enjoys sanding more than any other station so Rasmussen said they provide him with all the pieces to sand to his heart’s content.
Jeremiah Elandt is the team lead and keeps everyone busy with the tasks for the day, with his attention to detail being an amazing skill, she said.
“I couldn’t be here today without them and am very thankful I was gifted such an awesome crew,” Rasmussen said.
They use pine, maple and birch to build the furniture.
“I haven’t done anything in oak, but could, or any other hardwoods as well,” Rasmussen said.
Noffke Lumber is her source for some of the pine, with Rasmussen hoping to get all the pine there in the future.
Her other source is Granite Valley Forest Products in New London.
Rasmussen knew she wanted to work with that company because the wood is from trees cuts in Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.
Furniture N Creations has items in all of the 48 lower states, as well as in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
“The customer paid the shipping for that one,” Rasmussen said.
Visit furniturencreations.com/shop to see the company’s products.
Looking to the future
Future plans include adding more products to the line, including outdoor furniture, dining room tables, dressers and perhaps even tiny homes, she said.
“We can build anything,” she said.
The business is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.
People are able to see some of its products and may also buy scraps in the “Scrap Room.”
Black Dog Salvage furniture paint is sold there as well.
Rasmussen is also starting a charter for the nonprofit Sleep in Heavenly Peace, which provides beds to local children in need.
“We will have build days where we need people to come and help build and then volunteers to deliver and set up,” she said.
At work, Rasmussen prefers being in the production area and appreciates those who helped her get to where she is today.
“There were so many prayers that were said and continue to be said,” she said. “I thank God for all that He has given me and my family every day.”
Rasmussen also thinks about her father and his impact on her.
“I wish my dad could be here to see where the business has gone and where it is headed,” she said. “He always encouraged me and his favorite quote was, ‘She believed she could, so she did.’”