Wiltshire. It’s more than our home.
From our home, to your home
Welcome to Forest to Home. From our workshops near the National Trust village of Lacock – deep in the English countryside – we design and make modern English country furniture that connects you to nature.
Founded in 2015 by William Hibbert and Samuel Baker, Forest to Home started as two friends with a shared passion for making furniture that reflects the West County landscape – and the places – they grew up in. From ancient woodlands to the chalky uplands of the Wiltshire Downs, to the warm Cotswold stone and ancient cruck and timber frame houses, barns and churches that surround them, Sam and Will are happy to admit, their corner of Wiltshire is, quite literally, what fuels them.
And, together, with their growing – and talented team, they have grown their business into one of the best-known countryside lifestyle brands you’ll meet. Growing the brand has opened up opportunities for our talented local craftspeople as well as offering a nurturing environment for younger people to hone their skills. However, some things remain constant. Whether we’re making beautiful country furniture for an eco-conscious family, or realising the creative vision of world’s best known residential architects, our passion and core values remain the same.
We come from a place of beauty
Over the fields from our workshops, just along the River Avon, you’ll find a Medieval tithe barn, world famous Abbey and hamlets dotted with quaint stone and ashlar cottages. Sam and Will have studied the way these buildings were made – the shapes and techniques that make them unique – and have reimagined these elements in our furniture range.
Our aesthetic fits in beautifully with a laidback, pared back English farmhouse style. When you pair our pieces with natural shades and textures, muted tones and botanical elements, you’re adding warmth, character and heritage. Our pieces aren’t for people who love the regular, the sleek and the expected; our furniture oozes warmth, individuality and puts you at ease. And, of course, the beauty of using natural timber is that no two pieces are ever quite the same. At Forest to Home, we celebrate and amplify the individual character of every slab of timber we use. Every grain, every pattern is different. Every piece is individual – and unique to you. It tells its own story.
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Our craft doesn’t cost the earth
We think sustainability and beauty are intertwined. This is important to know. Because when you buy our furniture for your home and your family, you are making an ethical and responsible choice. You can be sure that every piece is crafted from the finest hardwood; hand-selected and sourced from certified, sustainable sources. We’re passionate about tree planting too, which is why every piece of furniture you buy from us, contributes to more trees being planted.
We only buy timber from suppliers and forests that are licensed or certified by Grown in Britain, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). We also support schemes to restore degraded woodlands and create productive, healthy and well-managed forests for the future.
Have you followed richer valleys? Have you rounded fairer hills?
Have you walked in broader avenues, or higher colonnades?
Through such forest and plantations, through such thickets and such glades?
– Alfred Williams
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July 2015
Our two founders - Will & Sam - meet and become friends whilst working on a country estate in Wiltshire. Realising a shared passion for the environment, craftsmanship, and beautiful timber furniture they start working on off-cuts from around the estate in their first ‘workshop’ – a garden shed!
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January 2017
With great excitement, we launched our very first collection of furniture and start to get our story out to the wider world.
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January 2018
Recognition of our hard work starts to happen in the shape of an award from Bath Life and we won Creative Bath award too.
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July 2018
We move in to our second workshop – an old chicken shed - high above the National Trust village of Lacock. We also welcome our very first employee and start working on both residential and commercial projects.
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August 2018
Sustainability becomes an even greater part of what we offer and what customers ask for. So, we start to invest in expertise from industry experts to implement strong sustainability and stewardship processes in the business.
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November 2018
We proudly launch our Forest Preservation Project – to ensure that for every piece of furniture we make, we give back to nature more than we’ve taken through active investment in tree planting projects.
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May 2019
We make investment into our collections, including a focus on products that utilise off cuts and reduce wastage in the workshop. And, we launch our Foresta range - designed by leading London and New York based residential architects Michaelis Boyd.
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October 2019
Our business continues to grow and we find ourselves making pieces for projects all over the UK and overseas. So, we decide we need more space! We move into our new workshop at Snarlton Farm and commence a major programme of investment in design and people. The new workshop – which gives us 3 times the space of our previous premises – becomes a happy home to a growing team of makers, apprentices and design staff.
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August 2020
Achieved Confirmation of Grown in Britain Chain of Custody Certification.
Our corner of England
Our corner of Wiltshire – which is only 14 miles from Bath and a couple of hours by train or car from London – may be most famous these days as a location site for film and television, with Lacock village and Abbey and Corsham town centres providing a backdrop to many a costume drama. However, this is an area where natural resources, human invention, effort and a good transport network have played their part in our local history as well as in bringing Forest to Home to you.
In the middle ages, the area between our two nearest towns – Chippenham and Melksham – was heavily wooded and the Royal Forest of Melksham provided both income and sport for kings from Anglo-Saxon to Plantagenet times. Much of this woodland is now gone but we are pleased to be using traditional and modern wood working skills to make our solid timber furniture available to everyone.
The area is also home to invention, with 19th century photography pioneer William Henry Fox Talbot living at and working from Lacock Abbey. This part of Wiltshire is also a place where innovators and makers have prospered – global brands such as Avon tyres, Knorr-Bremse Rail systems and Herman Miller all have significant premises here. It’s clear we’re in good company. It’s a fantastic place to be based. And, whether you travel by train, car or bicycle we’d love to see you here at the workshop.
