If you can recall, the living room at our last house was not conducive to a sectional with its layout, and for years we lived with two sofas facing one another. While it worked for that space, it didn’t give us the closeness and feeling of family togetherness that a sectional does. When we were house hunting, I knew that I wanted a living room that would fit a sectional so that our family of five could all pile on and watch movies, play games, and just spend time together. While our new living room isn’t much bigger than the old one, it’s big enough and the layout makes it possible for a sectional to fit cozily. When Bassett Furniture reached out to ask if I’d like to help them promote the new lines they were introducing this month, I was thrilled! I wanted our home to have a fresh, neutral, modern vintage vibe with a touch of bohemian. To be honest, I had no idea that Bassett made pieces that suited my style so well, but what I did know was that they made great quality furniture. I’ve been refinishing furniture for years and have worked on so many Bassett pieces because they have stood the test of time.When I spied their new Modern Collection I knew that it was exactly what I was looking for. I have always strived to create a home that is livable for my family and pets, and can withstand the amount of (ab)use our family puts on it. Our new sectional suits those parameters to a tee, and I am excited to share with you today our living room progress with Bassett Furniture’s modern sectional. (This post has been sponsored by Bassett Furniture. All photography and thoughts are my own.)
Up until a couple of weeks ago, this room was pretty much an empty box with a dog bed and boxes of empty boxes. It’s right off the entry, so it was the first thing that people saw upon walking into our home. We are well into our adulthood (I mean, we’re now middle-aged), and our living room looked like we were two broke college kids using boxes as furniture. Ha! To give you a little reminder of what this room looked like when we were house hunting, here’s a photo of the same exact room from the listing. I get where they were going with this… small furniture to try to make the room look larger.
Armed with the measurements of this room and a vague sense of the layout, I checked out Bassett Furniture’s new modern collection. When I spied the Knox sectional, I fell in love! It featured the lines that I loved, could be pieced together to suit many configurations (which was important to me because I wasn’t sure exactly which side of the room we would put it on, thus unsure if I needed left or right orientation.) Many modern sectionals out there feature taller thin legs that have a midcentury vibe. While I admire those legs, in our home pieces like that end up with fur balls under them. The Knox sectional has a modern shape, large comfortable cushions, and sits almost flush to the ground, meaning no fur balls to clean all the time. They might be lurking under there, but out of sight, out of mind at least. 😉
As you can see, I also decided on leather for our new sectional, Sierra Chestnut to be specific, although there are tons of great color options. Let’s be honest here… kids are messy, dogs are messy (and disobediently jump on the couch no matter how many times I shoe them off!), husbands are messy, and admittedly, I can be pretty messy, too. Leather just makes sense as it can withstand the wear and tear, and spills clean up so much easier.
Bassett was also so kind as to provide me with accessories for this space. As I mentioned earlier, I wanted a clean and modern neutral look for this space, but I also wanted to blend in my treasured vintage pieces seamlessly, and add some personal touches and natural accents.
To ground the space and keep it feeling light, I chose the Nepal rug which can be found here. This rug is light in color yet has some variations which I thought would be perfect with dogs who will (more than) occasionally bring in dirt. (FYI, I already had to clean muddy prints off the rug, and they came right up with dish soap and water.) The texture of this rug lends to the overall casual and comfortable feel I wanted in this space.
Here’s a closer look at that texture. You can also see the bits of tan and gray woven in that really suit the colors in the space.
It’s also thick enough that Wilder can play on it comfortably, which is a huge plus at the moment since he’s starting to get pretty mobile. Soon enough, he’ll be chasing our dogs all over the house. Watch out, Snowball; you are in for a rude awakening!
Before we moved, you might recall that my parents gifted me this gorgeous vintage chair that really set the tone for this space with its gray, white, tan, and black upholstery… it’s a rainbow of neutral colors.
To help the sofa mesh with this chair, I selected 4 pillows in the same color family that also shared similar graphic modern boho vibes and cozy textures.
The Bates pillow is the cream textured one which is ridiculously soft and has become the family favorite. Next to that is the Alden, a gorgeous grey and cream patterned pillow. These are super affordable as well.
I also selected my favorite of the bunch, the Clyde pillow, in a graphic black and white, and the Ferguson pillow in various earthy greys.
All four of these pillows work together to create a cohesive and cozy feel, and blend with the pieces I already had as well, such as my black and white art and photos, floor cushions, and chair.
In the center of the space, you can see I brought my vintage glass waterfall table. It was actually going to be quite expensive to move it because it would have to be crated, so we stored it at my parents house and Chris picked it up a few weeks ago when he was in DC for a meeting. Thanks, Mom and Dad, for table and plant sitting for me! I was so happy to see it again, and even happier when I saw how perfectly it fit with our new pieces. The shape and material keep it light and airy, which help keep the room from feeling too heavy with a dark sectional.
In our last living room, we didn’t have room for any side tables. We lived with just a coffee table for most of the time which was fine, but oh, how nice it is to have a side table! We selected the Boulder side table which is made of iron and concrete panels. I just love the shape and look of this piece.
It’s substantial, yet with its light color it sort of flows right into the rug and doesn’t feel obtrusive at all… it feels just right. Catcher agrees.
Just like our old living room, this space is lacking any hardwired lighting. Eventually I’d love to add a ceiling fixture, but we desperately needed some lighting in this space right now. I chose the Skylar floor lamp which has a round marble base and a brushed gold finish and midcentury inspired shape. Please note, this lamp is only available in store.
As you can see behind the lamp, I hung some family photos in small diagonal corner gallery, and the gold of the lamp helps tie in the gold of my vintage repurposed frames (they once housed Courier and Ives prints).
To balance the gold on the other side of the sofa, I selected the Bessemer mirror which has a great curvy and organic shape, large scale, and brushed gold frame. Now, this is a space I really want to address with you, because it’s a little unconventional in its setup. My design is always about making every inch of our square space usable, and that’s just what we did here.
To be perfectly honest with you, I had planned to remove the computer while I took these photos, but then I decided it was best to show you how we were making a computer work in our living room. This room is the best option for our little home office nook, so my goal was to make it fit in seamlessly. While, yes, I could have moved the computer to the downstairs family room, I spend most of my days in this main living area of the house, and I wanted a corner I could work in while still hanging out with the family. Just the other day I was able to sit and edit photos while watching the Grammy awards with everyone, so I know this is the right choice for us. As you can see, I hung the mirror on the wall right behind the computer.
The mirror truly works here because it’s large and balances the art on the other side of the sofa, it’s not too busy for behind the computer, and it helps pull the eye up and away from the computer. And yes, you can even see our printer peeking out there as well. As I mentioned in my intro, I have always strived to make my home livable and to keep it real. This set up is what works for us and, to be honest, I was quite shocked at how much I actually liked this idea of putting a mirror behind the monitor. I thought it was an idea worth sharing for those out there also trying to squeeze in a little work space into a main living area.
Since this furniture arrived, it’s amazing how much time we’ve already been spending together in this space, and everyone can fit comfortably. It’s such a dramatic change from our last house, where we’d sit on opposing couches, not uncomfortable but not exactly comfortable either. I mean, just look at Sawyer back there, if that tells you anything. Of course, I did make him put on a shirt for these photos… What is it with teenage boys and no shirts?
We used to always sit at the dining table to play games, but now we can sit in here to play. Emmy loves to pull out the floor cushions for additional seating. If you’re wondering, I won this intense match of Connect 4. 😉 Also if you’re wondering, it was cold outside and I hadn’t washed my hair so the hat is justified.
We are looking forward to creating many new memories right here. Thanks to Bassett Furniture‘s modern Knox sectional and other pieces combined with my vintage touches, family photos, and plants, this room now feels cozy, livable, warm, and mostly, like us. We still have many “to-dos” such as replacing the window treatments, and perhaps trying to find a larger midcentury credenza to serve as a media console (one that can hide all those wires!). There’s also an entire wall of this space that I didn’t share because it’s blank and the plan is to knock it down completely. However, it’s off to a great start in here!
