Hello!

Hi Friends, we are Brandon and Jeni Bowen, the creators of Restoring Piece. We have a love of repurposing and we specialize in architectural salvage. We are also proud to be the retailer for many product lines in the greater Tuscaloosa, Alabama area, such as Chalk Paint ® by Annie Sloan.

We probably should have purchased a book on how to best write an "About Us" section, but it looks like we'll have to speak from the heart instead. ;)

We are dreamers. I, Jeni, personally have pages upon pages of hand-written dreams, but nothing is sweeter than when they start to make sense. On March 9, 2009 I had a dream and this was my journal entry: "I was walking through a store of old and new. I was looking at items and choosing. Excitement. There was so much to choose from - so many amazing treasures needing some TLC. There was Easter decor. It was Spring."

Fast-forward exactly 3 years later...and I’m loading pallets and wooden spools onto the back of our truck on my day off. Why? Because so much can be done with this pile of discarded wood.

My mind is racing with ideas of what we can make and repurpose. Old doors made into desk tops or headboards or coffee tables, old windows from 1907 that were headed to the dump were rescued and now receive many accolades as the focal point on a wall, pallets that hang from the ceiling as art, broken furniture that needed a second glance. The best part is that I’m not alone in what I love to do.

Brandon is my unwavering husband, best friend and teammate. He is one of the only people in this world that would get up early on a Saturday morning just to drive 35 minutes down the highway and stand by my side in ankle deep mud while we sift through a mountain-pile of discarded barn wood, simply because I have a "vision" for it. It's love, folks!

What I didn’t understand back in 2009 is that God was preparing my heart for an unforgettable lesson; life-changing, in fact. I now realize that there is such a correlation in what I love to do through design and what He loves to do in and for His people. He bought and paid the price for our ugliness, also called sin. He takes what is old and makes it new. There is transformation through his Tender Loving Care. He recognizes our quality, even though we are hidden by dirt, stained and torn-up. We are hidden treasures in his eyes. He cleans us up and we are anointed with His oil. We are hand-picked by Him and made shiny and new. The more messed up we are, the better; the older, the better. There is no difference because His love is greater than any of our sins. It's God's Love. He is looking and searching for the old to make new. Those that have been thrown out and discarded, maybe even called 'trash', He's looking to RESTORE you; to wash you, to make you new.

I hope you enjoy witnessing this incredible journey that we have begun through Restoring Piece. It is our pleasure to share what Jesus has done for us and what He can do for you!

Many blessings,

Jeni