Let's Furnish This House, Part III

Like I said last time we talked furniture, I have a craving to look at some higher quality furniture, the type of stuff that will last so long I will have to pawn it off on our college-aged kids who will begrudgingly take it because it is free.

To be clear, I don't plan on doing the entire house with really expensive furniture (not at first anyways). I need furniture I can live on, furniture where I won't freak out if the dog jumps on the couch or if the cat decides to climb the bookshelf (true life).

I will never have one of those $10,000 couches no matter how wealthy we may become or how beautiful the fabric spun by Italian nuns may be. After all, I'm decorating a home, not a showroom.

On the other end, you may have read "I can't justify that expense" a thousand times by now, but I don't consider myself cheap at all. I just like to get the best value, sometimes that means buying the cheapest item and sometimes it's worth it to pay more.

That being said, furniture is crazy expensive even for the cheap stuff and I'm all about getting my money's worth. If I'm spending $1,000 anyway, I'd probably rather pay $2,000 to guarantee years of use and good customer service. The last thing I want to do is waste $1,000 only to be buying the same item in 3 years.

All these thoughts, plus my extreme pickiness, lead me to Bassett Furniture. And I have to say I was really impressed. If we could afford it, almost all of our furniture would come from here.

Right when you walk in the door, the lovely bedroom greets you. And while most of you are probably drawn to the chevron bed and matching chair, I cannot get over that duvet. It needs to come home with us, one way or the other.

Right behind that was this really nice cream sectional. I love a good light colored couch which probably makes several of you classify me as "crazy." Maybe. In real life, I probably won't go this light, but it will be on the lighter end of the spectrum. One of the many great things about Bassett is you can customize any piece of furniture.

I remain undecided about sectionals and their place in our future home. If we decide to go that route, this one ranks pretty high. It was super comfortable and the knife-edged back cushions would be a great fit for our kitties. That natural slouch sofas get over time (in our case, from cats perching on top of the cushions) would look intentional with knife-edged rather than "worn out" with box-edged.

Another beautiful sectional with a very neutral style. With different pillows, this couch could go from super traditional to that perfect rustic/vintage look I'm after. It's kind of a clean slate.

I found two chairs that I'm pining over:

The first is a grandma chair to the extreme, but I don't care, it was that comfortable. It's even growing on me because I could certainly see it in a different fabric. It might even add some credibility and "age" to our brand new home. It really feels like a piece that's been around forever. And for $1,300 it better last a good long time.

The other one was also very comfortable, but not as much as the first. The fabric was much nicer, but I'm concerned it may be too modern. I want to find that style that's relevant now but looks like it could have been unchanged for years. As much as I love it, I'm not sure this chair strikes that balance.

The last thing I'll show you is the part I'm most excited about: the completely customizable HGTV Upholstery Studio. When it's time to buy, Pat and I will definitely revisit this area. Two styles of couches stood out to me:

This couch is a little classier than I would typically go, but what can I say, I love it. Like L-O-V-E love. The rolled arms are really pretty and the back cushions are a good mid-point between knife-edged and box-edged.

I thought it looked a little familiar, and I eventually realized it's the same couch Christina at Carolina Charm recently picked for her living room. (If you don't read Carolina Charm, start now. Bonus points: she's also Charlotte, NC based.)

The other couch was another "clean slate." It was modeled in a sumptuous down; it was so cushy I could have slept there. As a matter of fact, that knocked over cushion is a result of me getting a little too cozy in the showroom. Either way, I think I prefer two cushion couches (like the ones behind the two I love) to three. Wonder if they can customize that...

They also had amazing upholstered headboards (I'm beating myself up for not taking a picture) which are (once again) customizable. Yay!

Definitely feel like I made some serious idea-progress on this trip. Bassett has made the short list of places to return to.