Stutzman-built bed set stays in the family after auction

Some people build furniture to sell as part of their business.

Others do it as a hobby.

For Maurice Stutzman, building a beautiful queen bedroom suite had only one end game.

Stutzman started building the bed set last November, with one goal in mind: to build something special for the purpose of raising money for the annual Ohio Mennonite Relief Sale.

“I built a piece last year for the auction, and my wife (Carla) was going to make a quilt for this year’s auction,” Stutzman said. “When she told me that, I told her, ‘If you’re going to make a quilt, then I’m going to make a bedroom suite to go with it.’ It kind of started there.”

Stutzman said he had no game plan, no blueprint, and if something didn’t go the way he wanted to while crafting the furniture, he would simply make changes or even start over.

Last year’s project saw Stutzman repurpose an old dresser, fashioning it into a
coffee bar.

This project was much larger, with the queen bed and accompanying pair of bedside dressers making for a more challenging build.

However, Stutzman, who said he is far from a polished furniture maker, worked his way through the project, and the end result was pretty stunning.

Once it hit the auction block, the bidding was fierce, and in the end, when the word “sold” rang out with the last bid of $4,100, the bedroom suite would not stray from the family tree.

Both the quilt, purchased for $1,600, and the bedroom suite were purchased by his son-in-law Ryan Kline, who had some perfect plans for the set.

“My wife and I are working on a basement renovation, and we are going to include an in-law suite for when Maurice and Carla Stutzman come to visit,” he said. “We plan on taking the whole set back to Virginia, where it will become a very special part of our home. This is extremely special, and that’s why I couldn’t ever put a price on it.”

Kline said his intention was coming to the auction to leave with both the bedroom suite and quilt in tow in his trailer, and he wasn’t going to be denied.

Stutzman said they visit the family in Virginia several times a year.

Stutzman spent his Saturday morning helping to serve breakfast at the event before settling in to take in the auction, something he’s been doing for many years.

He said the overriding goal is to raise funds for the relief sale, which all go to Mennonite Central Committee. Because his daughter Lydia served with MCC in Lebanon, Syria, he has a heartfelt connection to the organization.

That alone would be enough reason for him to invest the time and money in creating and donating the bedroom suite, but there’s more to the story for Stutzman, who said he has one other hope he believes could gain momentum in the coming years.

“I’d like for people to realize that it’s worthwhile and fun to donate handcrafted items to the auction,” Stutzman said. “I think it’s neat because people put their heart and soul into making items, and they have a story with it. My goal is to get people excited about making something rather than simply donating.”

Stutzman said he is already calculating some plans in his head for what he will build for next year’s auction.