Flat pack furniture is designed to be assembled quickly and easily, saving space and reducing shipping costs. It was invented by Gillis Lundgren, a Swedish furniture designer, and popularized by IKEA. The quality can vary, with some using high-quality materials and others using cheaper ones. The furniture may or may not be designed to be taken apart again.
Flat pack furniture is furniture that is manufactured in flat parts and designed to be assembled quickly and easily. It is also sometimes called ready-to-assemble furniture or knock-down furniture. The main benefit of this is that because it is flat packed, it is extremely space efficient, saving significant amounts of money for the manufacturer by reducing shipping and storage costs. Consumers in turn benefit because the business can pass on the savings at less expensive prices.
A Swedish furniture designer named Gillis Lundgren is credited with inventing flat pack furniture. According to his employer, Swedish furniture giant IKEA, Lundgren was carrying a table home one day and removed the legs so that it would fit in his car, reattaching them at home. She realized that it could potentially be cost effective to sell furniture in a flat form and brought the idea to her employers, who followed suit, producing the first packaged furniture in the 1950s. Once IKEA set the bar, other furniture companies followed suit, making it a ubiquitous offering on the market.
Flat pack furniture designers typically create furnishings that are very easy to mass produce. Most companies also pre-drill and other prep work so that consumers can fit furniture together with minimal work. The furniture is packed with all hardware and tools needed to assemble it, along with assembly instructions. These directions are quite well known in some quarters, as they typically include vague illustrations and poorly worded sentences, forcing consumers to solve the furniture assembly themselves.
The quality of flat pack furniture can vary widely. Some companies use high quality materials, creating furniture that is meant to last and be attractive. Others use cheaper materials, meeting the demand for low-cost furnishings that can be useful without looking pretty. The use of veneers, particleboard, and plastic fittings is common in cheaper furniture, while high-end furniture uses higher-quality woods and can also be designed to be environmentally friendly.
Depending on the construction techniques used, flat pack furniture may or may not break easily once assembled. In some cases the furniture is designed to be taken apart again in the event of a move, while in others stronger connections are used to ensure that the furniture does not break and these connections make it impossible to take the furniture apart again. When shopping for flat-pack furniture, you may want to consider this, especially if you’re a frequent mover.
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