Beauty + functionality = Treehouse Wood Art

Cheryl Hentz

Contributor

September 22, 2025

SHEBOYGAN FALLS – Though longtime registered nurse Erin Kanz has spent more than 30 years in the medical field and still loves her work, she said she found herself unsettled by changes that followed a departmental restructuring in 2024. 

So, with careful reflection and support from her wife, Mari, and their three grown sons, Kanz said she decided to shift to a “casual” status – stepping back from a regular schedule to pursue her other passion: woodworking.

“I’ve always liked to putz [around] and make stuff, and have always been artistic and creative,” she said. “It’s just always been in my nature.”

An example of this, Kanz said, was an eyesore at her and Mari’s former home in Sheboygan that she turned into a DIY project.

“I was carrying a load of laundry downstairs to do it, and I said, ‘Boy, I don’t like the way this wall looks,’” she said. “By the end of the day, I’d built a [different] wall. I didn’t know how at first, but I figured it out.” 

So, when the two decided to build their current home, Kanz said they planned to include a shop space behind the garage in their plans.

“It was a place for me to putz [around] and be creative with my woodworking,” she said. “Never did we think it was going to be a business.”

Major career twist

One of the contractors building their new home, Kanz said, was so impressed with the artwork she had incorporated into one of their railings, he suggested she do something with her work beyond personal purposes. 

She said he also showed her work to the owner of the lumber company he buys from. 

He, too, was quite impressed, Kanz said – telling her she had an amazing talent and could make money doing that kind of custom work for others.

“So, whether he realizes it or not, our contractor really put the bug in my ear that I could make some money at this,” she said. 

Over time, Kranz said that idea took root and eventually led to the creation of Treehouse Wood Art, beginning operations in 2024.

“Some of my art is purely decorative – a creation to adorn a wall or shelf,” she said. “Some of my creations are everyday practical objects, but made so they are personalized, and become art in and of themselves.”

Art, Kanz said, is subjective and a word that contains multitudes of meanings.

“Art can be something you paint or draw and you hang it on a wall and it’s something you look at, but art can also be something that’s functional,” she said. “Like the railing in our house, I incorporated art into it. The railing is functional – it has to be there – but there’s no reason it couldn’t be pretty at the same time.”

Though her love for woodworking art was a strong inspiration, Kanz said the change in nursing work status ultimately pushed her to officially start the business

“The stars aligned and everything was just perfect,” she said. “I could choose and pick up hours wherever I wanted to, but I’m not obligated or on the schedule. So, I work one day a week on a very part-time basis, and I was getting plenty of encouragement to pursue woodworking professionally.”

Kanz said she enjoys all her projects, but she has a soft spot for mosaics because of the geometric shapes involved.

However, she said she likes creating mosaics because of the geometrical aspect – which she often starts with rough lumber.

“I don’t go to the big-box store and get wood that’s ready to go, so… there’s a lot of prep work with mosaics,” she said. “But, if I can do all that and then make 10 of something instead of just one of something, then I have some inventory that people can choose from.”

Finding balance, flexibility

Kanz said starting a business involves many decisions, including choosing the right name.
“Mari and I came up with name after name, but none of them really resonated with me,” she said.

Eventually, Kanz said their new home in Sheboygan Falls, atop a hill along the Onion River, provided the necessary inspiration.

“With all the trees down below – especially seeing it from the deck – we’ve always said it feels like we’re in a treehouse,” she said.

That connection, Kanz said, made Treehouse Wood Art an obvious and fitting name.

Running a business from her home, she said, has made it easier for her to maintain a healthy work, home and life balance.

In fact, Kanz said having her own business gives her the ability to keep a flexible schedule – even across her two professions. 

“I love nursing, and I still get to do that aspect, maintain my skills and enjoy doing it,” she said. “With the business… some projects don’t have a definite date as to when they need to be done. So, if I choose not to work in the shop on a given day, that’s okay. I’ll just do that much more the next day.”

Besides the flexibility woodworking provides, Kanz said she finds the craft cathartic and rewarding. 

“I love the entire process from start to finish, [and] when I’m creating, I’m in my happy place,” she said. “Wood has a beauty to it, in and of itself – with the colors, the grains, the smells and the textures – but there is something so satisfying about taking a rough piece of wood, shaping it into something with your own hands, sanding it and finishing it to create something that someone wanted and will be able to appreciate. It’s a wonderful experience. It touches my heart.”

Keeping busy with future plans 

When a customer inquires about a special kind of design, Kanz said it’s not uncommon for her to invest a couple of hours into researching, designing, sketching, looking up costs and creating a plan to execute the project – depending on what it is – before she even picks up the first piece of wood.  

“Anytime you’re doing anything custom, it takes much longer because it involves all the design work before you can even start it,” she said. “If it’s something I think someone else might like, then repeating the same design over and over again is always easier because I know what I have to do. I know what size and I don’t have to experiment with how thick something needs to be, and so forth.”

Though her sons have suggested she take her work to craft shows, Kanz said since most of her work is custom, she doesn’t always have the opportunity to make multiples of things. 

However, she said she is starting to develop a small inventory, with some pieces available for sale on her website – treehousewoodart.com. 

Her immediate future, Kanz said, includes a very special partnership with Frontier Craftsmen – a cabinet company in Sheboygan Falls – which will have her creating mosaics to incorporate into the company’s cabinet doors, giving them a nice accent. 

When customers come in to order cabinets, Kanz said Frontier Craftsmen will ask them if they’d like to have their cabinets enhanced with a mosaic design and show them samples of what she can do.

If customers are interested, Kanz said they are connected with her to collaborate on custom designs, patterns and colors.

Besides kitchen cabinets, islands or oven hoods, Kanz said her designs could be used to highlight and personalize bathrooms, laundry rooms, bookcases, tables and virtually any place in someone’s home.

Kanz said she still finds it hard to believe that all her early woodworking success began with a simple railing design – or that it eventually led to starting a business.

“I never in a million years could have started my own business and be at the point I am now, without Mari,” she said. “She is my biggest cheerleader and my biggest source of support. My sons are also very encouraging.”

Kanz said she and Mari, who was a school counselor for 30 years and retired when COVID-19 hit, spend most of their days at home together working in the shop and on the house, “because a new house is never actually complete.”

“We always talk about how lucky and blessed we are to be at [this] point,” she said. “To be content, to be settled and to be at the point where I can do what I want to do, not what I have to do.”