Bassett Furniture is known for its highly customizable furniture and a wide range of styles, from traditional to contemporary, while Flexsteel stands out for its legendary durability and supportive seating, thanks to its patented Blue Steel Spring technology that attracts buyers focused on longevity.
Let's break down everything you need to know to choose the right furniture brand for your home.
Bassett Furniture: The Customizable Craftsmanship Brand
Bassett Furniture is a cornerstone American brand with over a century of history, offering well-built upholstered and wood furniture. The brand appeals to homeowners who want a personalized touch, providing extensive customization options across a wide variety of styles. From classic silhouettes to modern profiles, Bassett empowers customers to create pieces that perfectly match their home's aesthetic.
- Product mix: Full home furnishings including custom-built sofas and sectionals, bedroom collections, dining sets, accent tables, and home accents.
- Style/vibe: A broad spectrum of styles covering traditional, transitional, and contemporary design. Their collections are versatile and can be tailored to fit many different interior themes.
- Price point: Mid-range to upper-mid-range. Sofas typically begin around $1,000 but can exceed $3,000 with custom fabrics and configurations, while dining tables start near $800.
- Quality: Known for solid craftsmanship using kiln-dried hardwood frames, high-resilience foam cushions, and carefully selected upholstery. Their construction is designed for lasting home use.
- Customization: This is Bassett's signature strength. They offer hundreds of fabric choices, dozens of finish options, and configurable sectional pieces allowing for highly personalized furniture.
- Durability/Warranty: Many upholstered items come with a limited lifetime warranty on the frame and spring system, underscoring their commitment to quality construction.
- Shopping Experience: Sells through a network of local showrooms and authorized dealers, as well as online. Their stores often feature in-house design consultants to help with the customization process.
Bassett Furniture is the go-to choice for homeowners who prioritize personalized style and solid craftsmanship, offering the tools to create furniture that's uniquely theirs.
Shop Bassett Furniture: bassettfurniture.com
Flexsteel: The King of Durability and Support
Flexsteel has built its long-standing reputation on one core promise: unparalleled durability. Their famous Blue Steel Spring system, a C-shaped arch of steel that doesn't require retying or tightening, is the foundation of their seating and is designed to last a lifetime. The brand targets customers who see furniture as a long-term investment and need pieces that can stand up to the rigors of daily life, especially in busy households.
- Product mix: Predominantly known for upholstered seating like sofas, motion furniture, recliners, and sectionals. They also offer a select range of bedroom sets and dining tables.
- Style/vibe: Leans heavily toward traditional, transitional, and comfortable casual designs. The aesthetics prioritize timeless appeal and support over fast-moving trends.
- Price point: Competitive mid-range pricing. Sofas typically fall between $900 and $2,500, offering excellent value for furniture engineered for exceptional longevity.
- Quality: Legendary for its Blue Steel Spring system which provides lasting support. Their pieces also feature kiln-dried hardwood frames and high-density foam cushions built to resist sagging.
- Customization: While not as extensive as Bassett's, Flexsteel offers a good selection of performance fabrics and leather options for most of its seating.
- Durability/Warranty: Flexsteel's warranties are a major selling point, often covering the internal mechanisms, springs, and frames for an extended period, reflecting their confidence in the product's longevity.
- Shopping Experience: Primarily sold through a vast network of authorized furniture retailers and local showrooms where customers can test the comfort and support in person.
Flexsteel is the ideal choice for anyone prioritizing resilience and long-term value, offering incredibly supportive furniture that's built to last for decades.
Shop Flexsteel: flexsteel.com
Bassett Furniture vs. Flexsteel Comparison
Price Comparison
Both brands occupy the mid-range furniture market, but they approach value differently. Flexsteel often has a slightly lower starting price for sofas, typically beginning around $900. Their value comes from engineering for extreme durability, meaning you are paying for a piece that often outlasts competitors by many years.
Bassett Furniture starts its sofas closer to the $1,000 mark, with prices climbing significantly with custom add-ons. The value here is in personalization and design - you're paying for the ability to get exactly the style, fabric, and configuration you want. In short, Flexsteel offers long-term financial value through durability, while Bassett offers value through tailored design.
Style & Aesthetic
This is one of the most significant differentiators. Bassett Furniture offers a much broader and more current range of styles. You can find everything from modern and minimalist to classic and traditional, making it easier to match their pieces to a contemporary home decor scheme.
Flexsteel, on the other hand, sticks primarily to timeless traditional and transitional styles. Their furniture often features rolled arms, plush cushioning, and a focus on visible comfort. While their styles are classic and unlikely to feel dated, those looking for sharp, modern lines or a mid-century modern vibe will find more options at Bassett.
Quality & Construction
Both brands are respected for their construction quality, but their highlights differ. The core of Flexsteel's identity is its revolutionary Blue Steel Spring system. This unique design provides consistent, firm support that doesn't sag over time, making it a superior choice for high-use furniture like family room sofas. Combined with kiln-dried hardwood frames, Flexsteel's build quality is focused entirely on longevity.
Bassett also uses quality materials like kiln-dried hardwoods and sturdy joinery, and their upholstered pieces often feature a robust spring system. Their quality shines in the details - the fit and finish of the upholstery, the consistency of wood stains, and the overall craftsmanship that comes with their customizable pieces. Flexsteel is built like a tank for support, Bassett is built with tailored precision for style.
Customization Options
Bassett Furniture is the clear winner in this category. Their business model is heavily built around customer choice. With hundreds of fabrics and leathers, various wood finishes, different welt and cushion options, and modular components, you can truly design a piece from the ground up to fit your space and taste.
Flexsteel offers some customization, allowing you to choose from a selection of durable fabrics and leathers for your sofa or recliner. However, the scope of options is much narrower. Their focus is less on personalization and more on delivering their proven, high-durability models in a range of classic coverings.
Sustainability & Ethics
Both brands continue to advance their sustainability efforts. Bassett and Flexsteel both utilize responsibly sourced wood in their frames and offer eco-friendly materials in some of their collections. They adhere to manufacturing standards designed to reduce environmental impact.
A key sustainability argument for Flexsteel lies in its primary selling point: durability. By creating furniture that lasts for decades, the brand promotes a "buy it once" mentality that reduces waste and the consumption of resources over time, which is an important, though less direct, aspect of sustainability.
Which One Should You Choose?
Although both are quality American brands, they cater to very different priorities.
Choose Bassett Furniture if:
- You want to fully tailor your furniture with specific fabrics, finishes, and configurations.
- Your home has a modern, contemporary, or highly specific design an off-the-shelf piece won't fit.
- You value a cohesive look and want to purchase matching pieces across bedroom, living, and dining rooms.
- An in-store design consultation experience is important to you.
Choose Flexsteel if:
- Your number one priority is durability for a busy household with kids, pets, or high traffic.
- You are seeking maximum support and comfort from your seating, especially for prolonged use.
- You prefer timeless traditional or transitional styles that won't go out of fashion.
- You see your furniture as a long-term investment and want a strong warranty to back it up.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Bassett Furniture or Flexsteel cheaper?
Flexsteel often has a slightly lower entry-level price for their sofas, but both brands are firmly in the mid-range category. Overall costs are comparable, but the best "value" depends on your needs. Flexsteel offers better long-term value through durability, while Bassett Furniture offers better value for design personalization.
Which has better quality furniture?
Both have excellent quality, but for different reasons. Flexsteel arguably has superior quality when it comes to the core support system and frame longevity, thanks to its signature Blue Steel Spring. Bassett's quality is evident in its craftsmanship, material options, and tailored finishes. If your definition of quality is "it will last forever," Flexsteel has the edge. If it's "it is beautifully made to my exact specifications," Bassett shines.
What is the Flexsteel Blue Steel Spring?
The Blue Steel Spring is Flexsteel’s patented seating system. Unlike traditional coil springs, it is a single piece of arched, ribbon-like steel that runs through the frame. It never needs to be re-tied or adjusted and provides continuous support, preventing sagging for the lifetime of the furniture.
Does Bassett offer a lifetime warranty?
Yes, Bassett offers a limited lifetime warranty on frames and spring systems for many of their upholstered furniture pieces, ensuring protection against manufacturing defects for the life of the product.
Which brand is better for families with kids and pets?
Due to its legendary reputation for durability and unwavering support, Flexsteel is often considered the superior choice for active families. Their frames and spring systems are engineered to withstand heavy, daily use, and they offer a wide range of performance fabrics that resist stains and wear.
Can I customize furniture from both brands?
Yes, but Bassett Furniture makes customization its defining feature, offering hundreds of fabrics, finishes, and hardware options. Flexsteel offers some fabric and leather choices, but their primary focus is on build quality rather than extensive personalization.
Where are Bassett and Flexsteel sold?
Bassett Furniture is sold through its own dedicated showrooms, outlets, and online store. Flexsteel relies on a large network of authorized independent furniture retailers and showrooms across the country.
What styles does each brand offer?
Bassett offers a very broad collection of styles, including contemporary, modern, farmhouse, and traditional designs. Flexsteel's catalog is more focused on classic traditional and comfortable transitional styles that have enduring appeal.
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