Good morning! I hope you all are having a great week so far. A couple of weeks ago I had the privilege of touring our sponsor, Bassett Furniture’s Bench*Made factory in Bassett Virginia and watching them make some furniture for me. It was absolutely fascinating and such an incredible experience. To be honest, I really wasn’t sure what to expect when they invited me to tour their Bench*Made and upholstery factories (I’ll be sharing more about the upholstery factory in another post) and was a little bit hesitant about it initially. However it turned out to be not only so much fun, but also very intriguing and I wanted to stay longer and learn even more.
I love that Bassett is a family company that has been making furniture for over 100 years! Their Bench*Made line is 100% made in the USA, including the trees that they harvest from the Appalachian region. The pieces from their Bench*Made collection are solid hardwood. The American maple timber is cut and milled in the Appalachian region and shipped to their Bassett, Va., factory where it is shaped and finished. As I toured the factory I was not only impressed with the unbelievable quality of each piece but also the craftsmanship and attention to detail. Each piece was like a piece of art. And I loved hearing the history behind the company as we walked around.
My favorite piece by far is the Bench*Made Maple Bureau. It is in fact my new favorite piece of furniture we own. I have always been drawn to antique chests and bureaus but have found they are difficult to use for every day clothes storage because they often don’t open and close very well. This piece gives the look of a timeless family heirloom yet the drawers glide open and close with the touch of a finger! I cannot wait to show you how it looks in our master bedroom later this week but for today I want to take you on a little tour through the process of how they made it.
I don’t want to get any of the terminology wrong so I won’t attempt to describe the steps but here are some photos I took while watching one of the craftsman build my bureau.
They don’t completely build it before they stain it. They get it to this point and then apply the stain to this piece, the top, and the drawers all separately so that it is stained perfectly and then they finish building it. Watching them apply the stain completely brought the piece to life!
You can see how beautiful it is going to look as the stain is applied! I cannot wait to show you how it looks finished and how gorgeous the wood looks against the dark walls of our master bedroom. These aren’t my drawers but they show the high quality of the drawers used in each piece:
Here’s a little peek:
I also got to watch as they put together my table. I went with the Bench*Made 72” Georgian Table in a Fawn finish.
They get the table top sanded to perfection!
And add distressing details:
And then the fun part! Watching them stain it:
I will be sharing the finished photos of the table later this week too in our dining room along with these Greyson side chairs!
Here’s a little peek:
Bassett is creating high quality pieces of furniture that are built to last and to stand the test of time. Along the the incredible quality and construction, another thing I was so impressed with was the ability to customize your piece! It’s hard to truly get a feel for it online so I highly recommend finding your local Bassett store so you can see just how custom you can make a piece and how perfect they can make it for your space!
The company is pushing to incorporate more technology into its stores, so the store is a continuation of the web experience customers started at home. Along with this technology though, they are committed to providing the best customer service experience in furniture retailing because “there is no substitute for a friendly, knowledgeable design consultant to make sure you get exactly the furniture you want.”
As their website says, “Today, Bassett remains committed to the early principles of the company … that great quality, stylish furniture does not need to be expensive and should be available to everyone. A visit to one of our stores and you’ll see just how committed we are to that idea.”
I can’t wait to share the finished products with you later this week! Have a wonderful day!
Warmly, Jenni
