The Foraged Home

by Oliver Maclennan, Joanna Maclennan (Photographer)

A celebration of both sustainability and design, this book presents beautiful interiors filled with salvaged, recycled, and repurposed objects from around the world. Artful home interiors are born from curiosity, creativity, and imagination, yet many of us fail to see a potential curtain rod in a bamboo stick or a kitchen counter in an old carpenter’s bench. Anyone can create a beautiful home without expensive store-bought pieces simply by foraging and salvaging. Discarded objects can be restored, recycled, or repurposed to fill any space with style. Presenting the techniques and philosophies―such as beachcombing, forest hunting, and urban salvaging―of savvy foragers from across the globe, this book showcases how they created comfortable and stylish homes by breathing new life into what most would consider waste. In an era when sustainability, living off the grid, and reducing our eco-footprint have never been more important or appealing, The Foraged Home will provide guidance and inspiration to those looking to go beyond the world of mass-produced products. 300 color illustrations

Genres: Nonfiction, Design, Art

256 pages, Hardcover

Published June 11, 2019

Reviews

[Megan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The pictures were lovely and I enjoyed seeing a diverse number of locations. My biggest issue with the book is that they would describe parts of the home or items salvaged in depth- but then not picture them at all in the montage of photos in that vignette.

[Haylee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although I found the overall aesthetic to resemble abandoned post-apocalyptic dwellings, I enjoyed the stories surrounding each home's origins, broken up by location types and interspersed with foraging techniques. I'd like to incorporate some of their foraging ideas into my own home.

[Zoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mudlarking sounds fun

[Sissy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The man in the upside down boat was worth learning about.

[crypt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every once in a while a home design book catches my attention, and while they aren’t my typical reads I tend to enjoy peeking into other people’s lives via the places they inhabit. While I can’t say I’m a fan of minimalism (and some of these houses are quite stark) I can see its aesthetic appeal, as showcased by the excellent photography. I rated this a 3/5, as it was a simple and relaxing read, but I don’t feel strongly about it. For those who are already interested in foraging or interior design, you’ll probably feel more strongly about it than a middle-of-the-road three stars.

This is not a how-to guide for foraging, simply a photographic showcase of foragers’ homes with brief explanations of select items and their histories. The book is divided into four sections (coastal, rural, wild, and urban), each including locations found in Europe or Australia, with the exception of two New England homes. While not providing explicit instruction on how to forage, these entries still provide inspiration for those potentially interested in foraging themselves. Each unique home encourages readers to repurpose items (such as using large sticks for curtain rods) or to consider the weight of an item’s history when looking for pieces.

I appreciate the authors defining foraging as applying to both natural objects (think leaves, plants, wood, bones) and found objects (think furniture left on the side of the road, going through flea markets). I hadn’t previously considered found objects to be a part of foraging; I most definitely imagined foragers going through the woods and looking for things more akin to mushrooms and berries, not iron works from abandoned factories and discarded furniture at garage sales. The cover of this book led me to believe it would focus more on the natural foraging aspect, so having found objects be such a focus was a pleasant surprise.

The layout is similar to that of a magazine, making this an ideal book to pick up and flip through whenever you have a free moment. (But it’s also just as pleasant to read all at once over a rainy weekend, if you’re like me.)

My issues with the book arise mainly from the captioning of the photos. There are instances where captions describe scenes not included in the spreads, such as one caption that explains a house’s location and surrounding fauna but directs you to look at the opposite page of clothing. In the same vein, sometimes relevant captions will accompany photos of entire rooms, but describe very small details or decor that are hard to locate in the photo. Directions on where to look for such small details would have been appreciated.

[Tina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I actually loved reading this. It gives me a new lease on buying stuff. Or rather NOT buying stuff! Permission granted to not follow the crowd and trust myself.

I personally have loved to pick things up in nature or go to a flea market, this book gives me permission to do that and then use the things. I’ve been thinking a lot about how wasteful everything is becoming. I wanted to use old things, there’s so many of them. And so much better made.

Anyhow, in the back of my mind I did wonder how haunted some of these homes with foraged items were….maybe. Maybe not. I’d also like to know, how does one know if something is safe to use? For instance, what if an object has lead or some other such element that could cause issues if you use it? I suppose more research on my part would help.

Tomorrow is Saturday. I’m off to forage and hit the flea market 😀

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this book up mostly to look at the pictures, but found the text to be fun to read as well! I was surprised to learn that most of the houses and people interviewed were from Australia, with a few from Europe, and one or two from the east coast of the US. I did enjoy looking at the photos of different people's home decor - although I think I learned that foraging decor is definitely not my cup of tea! Still fun to look at in other people's homes though!

[Janice Simons · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a "lifestyle" book I have wanted to read ever since it was recommended in "Bookpages" back in 2019. Unfortunately, I couldn't seem to find it & have been trying to limit the growing piles of books in my world. So last Saturday, while was looking for something else in the library, there it was! Besides the amazing pictures, the chapters are filled with vignettes about the people who have created their own unique spaces with mostly found objects. Very inspiring

[Granny Swithins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty pictures, as usual in these kinds of books the text is a little superfluous. Frustratingly, the text would often describe something that wasn't photographed. My main gripe though is that "foraging" is not the same as "flea-marketing" or "antiquing" - to my knowledge, stall-holders get really pissed off if you just pluck their goods without paying. It's stretching the meaning of foraging a little too far to claim that it includes buying furniture at antiques fairs.

[Stacie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Foraged this book from the library on a sunny Saturday afternoon during which I rustled driftwood from the great Mississippi flood on 2019 out of the park. I found the same type of seedpod that’s depicted on the spine of this book. Of course, that’s a five star moment of serendipity! The book is wonderful too.

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

favorite homes: Captain's Rest, Whale House, Mas in Provence, Woodman's Hut. Photography was interesting and I enjoyed reading the small bits about each person's story. This has inspired and given me ideas on how to re-use items and how to use items from nature. Makes me wants to trapeze through the forest and get some nice branches to decorate with.

[Bridgette Guerzon Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
I enjoyed the photos and the overall them of this book. I wish there had been more variety. I don’t think every “foraged” home out there is so drab. I read a review on goodreads where the reader said the homes looked like post-apocalyptic dwellings. 😂 That made me laugh because, yeah, I agree.

[Mandy Howard · Rating 2 out of 5]

The photography is really lovely, and a lot of the foraging ideas were inspiring. The main reason I’m giving this two stars is because of how often the text referenced parts of the homes that weren’t featured in the photos. It was like the author didn’t realize that photo hadn’t been included. It made reading the book pretty frustrating.

[Jade · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 stars.

Not sure if this was written by someone for whom English is a second language, but the writing wasn’t very good.

Most of the photos didn’t have any captions and some of those that did, were mislabeled.

Not a book you need to own. Pretty, though.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an absolutely beautiful book... Fill of ideas for bringing nature in and spending less. It made me want to live somewhere else .. where I could forage to my heart's content. The photography is beautiful and thoughtful.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although not much of anything in this book was to my tastes, the photography was gorgeous!

There were a few, large green or blue bottles I loved. Other than that, to me, most of the spaces depicted looked like asbestos hazards or possibly... haunted?

[Mary Lynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended for people interested in this type of interior design and style because of gorgeous photos.

[Katherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Photos and essays on foraged decor that spans multiple countries and styles.

[Tracee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I realized by looking at this book, while I admire some of the talent and taste, it is not for me.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely beautiful book. Definitely a keeper.

[Lindsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the various homes, cottages and campers. It inspires me to build a cottage and look for loved treasures.

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pictures of homes from around the world with foraged items. It was interesting. Photos were beautiful.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Foraged is not accessible to everyone but there is still some very inspirational & beautiful ideas.
However, using a taxidermy duck as a necklace stand...A very BIG no.

[Erna R Clark · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful artistic book 📖 💚 🍃 🌼 🌸 🌲

[Ștefania Ioana Chiorean · Rating 3 out of 5]

// Read the book while staying at one of the houses.

I loved the stories and the photos. Would have appreciated a bit more details about the object but it is a nice coffee table book