good bones, great pieces

I just purchased the book good bones, great pieces by Suzanne and Lauren McGrath. The concept is that "every home should have seven essential pieces that can live in almost any room and will always be stylish. The authors explain how to place iconic items of furniture like the love seat and the dresser and rotate them throughout the home as the style or need changes."

The seven pieces do not include the essential bed, table and sofa. I agree with most of the pieces.

The love seat, demilune table and slipper chair are not on my list of 7 essentials.

Remember the sofa & love seat matching sets? Ugh, I remember selling so many of these matchy-matchy sets in the early 2000's, at the time this seemed like good design sense. Thank goodness we longer follow such strict rules and home design has evolved into more of an individual, one of a kind, make it yours concept.

Also a love seat is not very practical for seating, most of the time only one person sits in it and two can be a crowd (unless you're in love).

The demilune table is a versatile piece, but I learned long ago to always think about storage. No matter how large your home or the number of closets you have, it will fill up and the need for storage never goes away.

I find the slipper chair to be some what awkward. A chair with no arms is not a chair I would choose to use.

I would replace these pieces with a comfortable upholstered arm chair, small china cabinet and a credenza.

Find a comfortable chair, in a color you love and you will have it for many, many years.

A small china cabinet can be used for books in a den or living room, as extra storage in a kitchen or keep it in the dining room.

The credenza or buffet adds extra storage in any room and if you want to get real creative, turn it into a bathroom counter top with a sink.

good bones, great pieces

What are your 7 essential pieces?