"The earth is full of the goodness of the Lord." Psalm 33:5

We are firm believers in the goodness of the Lord. In looking around at all He has created, we see diversity, complexity, magnificence, beauty.

We desire that our work and lives will praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men.

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The Reclaimed Nation is a family run woodworking business located in Caro, MI that specializes in building custom beds, farm tables, signs, and transforming entire living spaces. This is the story of how we began:

Our small furniture business started out of just a sheer delight in working with wood, a skill my dad had passed down to me (Eric). I had collected quite a stockpile of lumber from various places, but mostly from lots I cleared to build houses on. Much of it was rough sawn, with beautiful natural bark edges on them, and not much use for them but furniture making.

After my wife and I got married in 2011, we moved into a duplex in Texas with a single car garage, a carport, and 3' x 60' yard. I was working building houses by day, and with my wife's encouragement and help, building furniture by night. We'd pull the tools and materials we wanted to use out into the carport, then every night before bed, we put them back in the garage and swept up the sawdust shavings. Slowly our wood supply diminished.

I was working a typical 7-5 job as a sub-contractor, sometimes driving over an hour each way to get to the job site. Even though it brought home the bacon and I enjoyed the guys I worked with, I was not satisfied. I wanted the freedom and responsibility of running our own business - the abundant times and the hard times as a business owner.

My wife and I enjoy working together, and as our little family started expanding, we wanted to include our kids and to pass on the love of working with our hands.

We talked and prayed much about how to continue forward. As a boy, I always had a dream to tear down barns, and so in 2014, with my wife by my side, we moved to Michigan in the heart of farm country, to tear down barns.

We now have a patch of our own piece of country bliss, and are enjoying this new adventure of reclaiming old barns. You never know what you'll find. Some barns have so much gorgeous, reusable material, and others, not much at all.

Most farmers these days don't have much use for old barns, and would rather build new pole barns instead of use the old buildings. If they don't pay to keep the old barns well maintained, some even collapse on themselves from the neglect. Some owners will dig a big hole and bury their barn, others torch it, then use the new ground for expanding their crops.

We value the history, sweat, and tears that went into the life of these old barns. And so we deconstruct it piece by piece.

Even with equipment, it can be tough at times to dismantle a barn. Imagine the determination of the skilled men who built these barns 100 years ago, lifting 600lb beams 3 stories high.

Our mission is to preserve our American history. To take those old rafters, the milking parlor wall boards and floor boards, and make a solid piece of furniture. To take this old wood and metal and give it new life. To remind us of those who have gone before.

You can't easily recreate what the years have weathered. There is beauty in the nail holes and faded patina of the metal, the worn grooves in the grain of the wood. They all have a story.

We are also on Etsy under this username:
- RamonaMetal.Etsy.com (Aviator Inspired Furniture)

Tyler Little, who helps us out in the shop also has an Etsy shop of his own, along with his wife. And if you've been to the Port Austin Farmers Market, you've probably seen his smiling face in our joint booth full of our handmade products. His Etsy shop is TheLittleRustic.Etsy.com. He makes some pretty sweet antler handled ice cream scoops, knives, bottle openers, and coffee scoops, and all sorts of furniture and decor made out of barn wood.