The popularity of buying self-assembling furniture has grown massively since its invention over 50 years ago. These days a large majority of people’s homes and offices have been furnished with some of these purchases. If you haven’t yet succumbed to the innovative style of the flat pack then consider some of these advantages and disadvantages before you take the plunge.
What is Flat Pack Furniture?
Also known as ready-to-assemble furniture, it’s manufactured in flat parts and is self-assembled.
When you get a knock-down furniture delivered to your house, you get the separate components packed in carton boxes with instructions on how to assemble them on your own. Tools, screws, and nuts should be your best friends when dealing with flat-packs.
What are the Advantages of Flat Pack Furniture:
- Affordability: The most common reason people buy flat-pack furniture is that it’s an inexpensive way to decorate a property. Modern homes no longer rely on furniture being an investment as it did during our parents’ home-making days. Nowadays, we no longer go for heavy and enormous furniture that occupies each corner of the room. More frequently, we’re opting for the cheapness of an item to make our homes more attractive and minimalist, such as DIY flat pack kitchens.
- Easy transportation: Self-assembling furniture is easy to dismantle and therefore makes transportation less complicated and less expensive. Usually, solid components might show a negative effect on the final price. However, self-assembly flat-pack furniture can reduce the fuel consumption because it takes less space. The transportation of all items at once is easy and makes the delivery more efficient. So, it will be cheaper for you if you hire IKEA delivery by a furniture courier. Many of you will move properties a few times in a lifetime so having furniture that is adaptable means you can move it around and reduces the costs by hiring large removal lorries.
- Compactness: Its versatility means they’re able to fit into smaller spaces as manufacturers build them to be compact and have sliding features which reduce space. For example, if you have the furniture delivered, but you don’t have enough time to deal with it, there is no problem to leave it in the closest corner and assemble it later. It also means that there’ll be less chance to wrestle on awkward staircases or narrow doorway as flat-pack furniture can be built right inside the room you want it in.
- Choice of colours, design and size: Most designs come in a variety of colours which massively appeals to the customer as it makes it look bright and modern compared to older styles of furniture. Now, you can choose from a great number of assortments that match your home’s style and your personal taste.
- Eco- friendly and sustainable solution: Modern designers are creating such furniture with more solid wood that is both green and resistant. Besides, it is easy to combine two or more units when you are in the mood to try some DIY furniture hacks.
What are the Disadvantages of Flat Pack Furniture?
- Difficulty in putting the furniture together: The obvious disadvantage, people would argue, is that sometimes it’s hard to assemble the items. Others would consider it as a no-hassle job to do but it can take more time and efforts than you thought. Problematic instructions and leftover screws are the most common complaints customers seem to have not to mention endless hours (and arguments!) spent trying to assemble furniture.
- Not properly assembled: This can be a pain in the neck! Once you have screwed all the bits together, you may find that drawers don’t shut properly or cupboard doors are wonky. If this happens, there’s nothing else for it but to start all over again.
- Low durability: Another disadvantage of flat-pack furniture is the damage due to its low sturdiness. Knock-down furniture is created from man-made MDF, which, won’t last as long as a solid furniture, especially if it has been dismantled and put together several times already.
- Too simple design: Even though you can find tons of styles and colours, critics will argue that all flat-pack furniture looks the same as the design has been uncluttered and therefore limits style and originality despite its modern feel. To some people, It might be very frustrating to visit a friend and find out that their home has identical or exactly the same furnishing.
- Extra costs may occur: You might end up paying extra cash for someone else to come and assemble your flat-pack furniture for you! This will increase the final price you might not have foreseen when you first made your purchase!
To sum it up, as with everything that surrounds us, flat-pack furniture has its own pros and cons. Now, after you read the hints above, you can make your personal decision, what to choose, while furnishing your property.
