OUR STORY
A humble wooden cutting board. This is where our story begins. My Egyptian father and British mother were given a beautiful teak cutting board as a wedding gift. As they raised my brothers and me, the home they created celebrated and honored their respective cultures and their love for adventure. The cutting board was ever present, a simple household item that would have gone unnoticed but for its frequent use. Throughout my childhood as we gathered together and broke bread, the board naturally began to show it’s age, and in so doing recorded my family’s history. When my husband and I married, my parents gifted us their cutting board. As we moved far away, eventually putting down roots in Portland and starting our own family, each mark and line in the beautiful old wood suddenly held profound meaning, memories of family dinners, discussions of places we had explored, of gathering with friends, of a childhood filled with laughter and love. Today, I use our beloved cutting board to slice bread and chop vegetables for our own two daughters while we dream up new adventures together.
BASïT is born of the belief that the everyday items we use, however simple, become a part of us. Our line of sustainable, modern provisions for the home elevates the everyday and celebrates natural beauty and simplicity. Each and every BASïT product begins in my sketchbook, is designed and prototyped in our home studio and woodshop, and is ultimately produced by local Portland, Oregon-based factory partners. BASïT cutting boards, plates, serving utensils, and linens endure, each piece an heirloom in the making.
Deeply rooted in a sense of place and love of family, BASïT honors the stories you carry and those you create.
FOUNDER
Founder Drea Staub launched BASïT in 2019. Drawing from her family lineage, Drea chose the Arabic word basit —meaning simple, humble, undemanding—to represent her brand of modern provisions for the home. BASïT represents a timeless style, elegant yet effortless. Drea seeks to design products that reflect and honor her family’s ethos to share with others and preserve for future generations.
Drea holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Fashion Design from DAAP, The College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning at the University of Cincinnati. She worked in cities around the globe before making her home in Portland in 2003. An accomplished apparel designer working in the industry, when not in her professional studio, Drea can be found in her home studio or woodshop, dreaming up new projects alongside her husband Nick, an industrial designer, and two daughters who share their parents’ maker spirit.
PARTNERSHIPS
BASïT is a proud tree planting partner of the National Forest Foundation, whose mission is to bring people together to restore and enhance our National Forests and Grasslands. With each BASïT purchase, a tree will be planted to help ensure a sustainable future—including fresh air, clean water, and outdoor recreation experiences for us and future generations.