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{{short description|Furniture that requires assembly upon opening}}
{{short description|Furniture that requires assembly upon opening}}
{{Redirect|Flatpack|the type of electronic component|Flatpack (electronics)|the software|Flatpak|the aircraft|Mikoyan Project 1.44}}
{{Redirect|Flatpack|the type of electronic component|Flatpack (electronics)|the software|Flatpak|the aircraft with the NATO reporting name "Flatpack"|Mikoyan Project 1.44}}
[[File:Ikea Frustration (27879380013).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|An unassembled [[IKEA]] flat pack stool]]
[[File:Ikea Frustration (27879380013).jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|An unassembled [[IKEA]] flat-pack stool]]


'''Ready-to-assemble furniture''' ('''RTA'''), also known as '''knock-down furniture (KD)''', '''flat pack furniture''', or '''kit furniture''', is a form of furniture that requires customer assembly. The separate components are packed for sale in cartons which also contain assembly instructions and sometimes hardware. The furniture is generally simple to assemble with basic tools such as [[screwdriver]]s, which are also sometimes included. Ready-to-assemble furniture is popular with consumers who wish to save money by assembling the product themselves.
'''Ready-to-assemble furniture''' ('''RTA'''), also known as '''knock-down furniture''' ('''KD'''), '''flat-pack furniture''', or '''kit furniture''', is a form of furniture that requires customer assembly. The separate components are packed for sale in cartons which also contain assembly instructions and sometimes hardware. The furniture is generally simple to assemble with basic tools such as [[hex key]]s, which are also sometimes included. Ready-to-assemble furniture is popular with consumers who wish to save money by assembling the product themselves.


Producers and merchants benefit from selling ready-to-assemble furniture because furniture is bulky once assembled, and thus more expensive to store and to deliver. Since the assembly work is done by the consumer instead of by the manufacturer, its price can be lower. A furniture assembly service industry has developed, making it easy for consumers to employ someone knowledgeable to assemble their furniture for them.<ref>{{US patent|202505}}</ref>
Producers and merchants benefit from selling ready-to-assemble furniture because furniture is bulky once assembled, and thus more expensive to store and to deliver. Since the assembly work is done by the consumer instead of by the manufacturer, its price can be lower. A furniture assembly service industry has developed, making it easy for consumers to employ someone knowledgeable to assemble their furniture for them.<ref>{{US patent|202505}}</ref>


Produced mainly from [[White-lined chipboard|chipboard]] or [[Fiberboard|medium density fibreboard]] (MDF), the cost of producing this type of furniture is cheaper than using solid wood. The low grade timber is coated with a polymer laminate to replicate various types of wood, allowing a high quality looking finished product.
Produced mainly from [[particle board]] or [[medium-density fibreboard]] (MDF), the cost of producing this type of furniture is cheaper than using solid wood. The low grade timber is coated with a polymer laminate to replicate various types of wood, allowing a high quality looking finished product.


==History==
==History==
[[File:Cama Kerecha - Casal 03 (ReMakeRS).jpg|thumb|A detail of an open-source bedframe design, made from [[CNC]]-cut [[plywood]]]]
<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://bigdanoutlet.com/|title=Ready-to-assemble furniture |website=bigdanoutlet.com}}</ref> has roots that extend back a long way, as cabinetmakers have been making furniture that is easy to disassemble for transport for centuries. The ''New American Cyclopaedia of 1859'' listed the assembly of furniture as an "American invention"<ref>Ripley, George; Anderson, Charles Anderson (1859). ''The New American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge'', Volume 8. New York: Appleton. p. 30. Retrieved 31 August 2016.</ref> that emphasized ease of transport, but this claim is rather vague. A better claim to the earliest RTA furniture is the [[No. 14 chair|Thonet No. 14 bentwood chair]], which was specifically made to be easily disassembled to save space during transportation.<ref>Murphy, Adrian (5 November 2019). "The Chair Men: Gebrüder Thonet and the Number 14 Chair". ''Europeana'' (CC By-SA). Retrieved 2019-11-05.</ref> It was first produced in 1859. Slightly later there is an American patent of 1878 that defines some prefabricated furniture as follows: "The invention refers to a class of furniture in kit to be packaged and transported in pieces and assembled by specialized and unqualified people."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.google.com/patents/US202505|title=Improvement in chairs}}</ref>
Ready-to-assemble furniture has roots that extend back a long way, as cabinetmakers have been making furniture that is easy to disassemble for transport for centuries. The ''New American Cyclopaedia of 1859'' listed the assembly of furniture as an "American invention"<ref>Ripley, George; Anderson, Charles Anderson (1859). ''The New American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge'', Volume 8. New York: Appleton. p. 30. Retrieved 31 August 2016.</ref> that emphasized ease of transport, but this claim is rather vague. A better claim to the earliest RTA furniture is the [[No. 14 chair|Thonet No. 14 bentwood chair]], which was specifically made to be easily disassembled to save space during transportation.<ref>Murphy, Adrian (5 November 2019). "The Chair Men: Gebrüder Thonet and the Number 14 Chair". ''Europeana'' (CC By-SA). Retrieved 2019-11-05.</ref> It was first produced in 1859. Slightly later there is an American patent of 1878 that defines some prefabricated furniture as follows: "The invention refers to a class of furniture in kit to be packaged and transported in pieces and assembled by specialized and unqualified people."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/patent/US202505|title=Improvement in chairs}}</ref>


An early attempt at a business selling RTA furniture was set up by designer [[Louise Brigham]] and two partners during World War I. By 1915, Home Art Masters was offering RTA furniture kits at moderate prices through a mail-order catalog. The buyer received a set of parts that the company stated could be “quickly put together and finished. Everything including instructions, furnished. A boy or girl can set it up.”<ref name="lafarge"/> Home Art Masters was short-lived and it is uncertain how many of their RTA furniture kits were ever sold.<ref name="lafarge">{{cite book |last1=LaFarge |first1=Antoinette |title=Louise Brigham and the Early History of Sustainable Furniture Design |date=2019 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan}}</ref>
An early attempt at a business selling RTA furniture was set up by designer [[Louise Brigham]] and two partners during World War I. By 1915, Home Art Masters was offering RTA furniture kits at moderate prices through a mail-order catalog. The buyer received a set of parts that the company stated could be “quickly put together and finished. Everything including instructions, furnished. A boy or girl can set it up.”<ref name="lafarge"/> Home Art Masters was short-lived and it is uncertain how many of their RTA furniture kits were ever sold.<ref name="lafarge">{{cite book |last1=LaFarge |first1=Antoinette |title=Louise Brigham and the Early History of Sustainable Furniture Design |date=2019 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan}}</ref>


The next experiments in running an RTA business stem from the 1940s and 1950s. In the late 1940s, the Australian designer [[Frederick Charles Ward]] founded a mail-order RTA furniture business because he was disturbed by how little affordable furniture there was for people of modest means.<ref>Carter, Nanette. [http://www.historiadeldisseny.org/congres/pdf/7%20Carter,%20Nanette%20%20BLUEPRINT%20TO%20PATTERNCRAFT%20DIY%20FURNITURE%20PATTERNS%20AND%20PACKS%20IN%20POST-WAR%20AUSTRALIA.pdf “Blueprint to Patterncraft: DIY Furniture Patterns and Packs in Postwar Australia”.] Design History Foundation, n.d.</ref> In 1953, the Ohio cabinetmaker [[Erie J. Sauder]] received the first U.S. patent for RTA furniture for a table that could be assembled without either hardware or glue; he called it "snap-together" furniture.<ref>Combs, Heath E. “Sauder to Offer Replica of First RTA Table”</ref><ref>Forster, Matt. ''Backroads & Byways of Ohio: Drives, Day Trips & Weekend Excursions''. Countryman Press, 2018.</ref>
The next experiments in running an RTA business stem from the 1940s and 1950s. In the late 1940s, the Australian designer [[Frederick Charles Ward]] founded a mail-order RTA furniture business because he was disturbed by how little affordable furniture there was for people of modest means.<ref>Carter, Nanette. [http://www.historiadeldisseny.org/congres/pdf/7%20Carter,%20Nanette%20%20BLUEPRINT%20TO%20PATTERNCRAFT%20DIY%20FURNITURE%20PATTERNS%20AND%20PACKS%20IN%20POST-WAR%20AUSTRALIA.pdf “Blueprint to Patterncraft: DIY Furniture Patterns and Packs in Postwar Australia”.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210425160405/http://www.historiadeldisseny.org/congres/pdf/7%20Carter%2C%20Nanette%20%20BLUEPRINT%20TO%20PATTERNCRAFT%20DIY%20FURNITURE%20PATTERNS%20AND%20PACKS%20IN%20POST-WAR%20AUSTRALIA.pdf |date=2021-04-25 }} Design History Foundation, n.d.</ref> [[Lena Larsson]] helped to create one of the earliest Swedish brands of ready to assemble furniture, the TRIVA line, for [[Nordiska Kompaniet]] in 1943.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Brunnström |first=Lasse |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h1twDwAAQBAJ&dq=lena+larsson+nordiska+kompaniet&pg=PA77 |title=Swedish Design: A History |date=2018-10-18 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-1-350-00013-1 |pages=77 |language=en}}</ref> In 1953, the Ohio cabinetmaker [[Erie J. Sauder]] received the first U.S. patent for RTA furniture for a table that could be assembled without either hardware or glue; he called it "snap-together" furniture.<ref>Combs, Heath E. “Sauder to Offer Replica of First RTA Table”</ref><ref>Forster, Matt. ''Backroads & Byways of Ohio: Drives, Day Trips & Weekend Excursions''. Countryman Press, 2018.</ref>


In the Scandinavian countries, the furniture kit may have been independently invented by Swedish technician [[Gillis Lundgren]], who had the idea when trying to transport a table in his car. According to reports, he had to saw off the table's legs so he could put it inside the car and bring it home. He talked about the idea with his boss at [[IKEA]], and IKEA started selling flat-pack furniture in 1956.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dezeen.com/2016/03/14/ikea-billy-bookcase-designer-gillis-lundgren-dies-aged-86/ |title=Ikea's Billy bookcase designer Gillis Lundgren dies aged 86 |website=Dezeen.com |date=2016-03-14 |access-date=2016-03-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Karl Ritter |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/gillis-lundgren-designer-of-some-of-ikea-s-best-selling-furniture-who-also-helped-develop-the-firm-s-a6927476.html |title=Gillis Lundgren: Designer of some of Ikea's best-selling furniture who also helped develop the firm's self-assembly concept &#124; Obituaries &#124; News |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=12 March 2016 |access-date=2016-03-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Langer |first=Emily |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/gillis-lundgren-designer-of-ikeas-ubiquitous-billy-bookcase-dies-at-86/2016/03/10/a1ec674a-e60b-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e_story.html |title=Gillis Lundgren, designer of Ikea's ubiquitous Billy bookcase, dies at 86 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=2012-12-14 |access-date=2016-03-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/obituaries/article4722572.ece |title=Gillis Lundgren |newspaper=[[The Times]] |access-date=2016-03-29}}</ref>
In the Scandinavian countries, the furniture kit may have been independently invented by Swedish technician [[Gillis Lundgren]], who had the idea when trying to transport a table in his car. According to reports, he had to saw off the table's legs so he could put it inside the car and bring it home. He talked about the idea with his boss at [[IKEA]], and IKEA started selling flat-pack furniture in 1956.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dezeen.com/2016/03/14/ikea-billy-bookcase-designer-gillis-lundgren-dies-aged-86/ |title=Ikea's Billy bookcase designer Gillis Lundgren dies aged 86 |website=Dezeen.com |date=2016-03-14 |access-date=2016-03-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Karl Ritter |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/gillis-lundgren-designer-of-some-of-ikea-s-best-selling-furniture-who-also-helped-develop-the-firm-s-a6927476.html |title=Gillis Lundgren: Designer of some of Ikea's best-selling furniture who also helped develop the firm's self-assembly concept &#124; Obituaries &#124; News |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=12 March 2016 |access-date=2016-03-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Langer |first=Emily |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/gillis-lundgren-designer-of-ikeas-ubiquitous-billy-bookcase-dies-at-86/2016/03/10/a1ec674a-e60b-11e5-a6f3-21ccdbc5f74e_story.html |title=Gillis Lundgren, designer of Ikea's ubiquitous Billy bookcase, dies at 86 |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]] |date=2012-12-14 |access-date=2016-03-29}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/obituaries/article4722572.ece |title=Gillis Lundgren |newspaper=[[The Times]] |access-date=2016-03-29}}</ref>

Latest revision as of 00:08, 23 September 2024

"Flatpack" redirects here. For the type of electronic component, see Flatpack (electronics). For the software, see Flatpak. For the aircraft with the NATO reporting name "Flatpack", see Mikoyan Project 1.44.
An unassembled IKEA flat-pack stool

Ready-to-assemble furniture (RTA), also known as knock-down furniture (KD), flat-pack furniture, or kit furniture, is a form of furniture that requires customer assembly. The separate components are packed for sale in cartons which also contain assembly instructions and sometimes hardware. The furniture is generally simple to assemble with basic tools such as hex keys, which are also sometimes included. Ready-to-assemble furniture is popular with consumers who wish to save money by assembling the product themselves.

Producers and merchants benefit from selling ready-to-assemble furniture because furniture is bulky once assembled, and thus more expensive to store and to deliver. Since the assembly work is done by the consumer instead of by the manufacturer, its price can be lower. A furniture assembly service industry has developed, making it easy for consumers to employ someone knowledgeable to assemble their furniture for them.[1]

Produced mainly from particle board or medium-density fibreboard (MDF), the cost of producing this type of furniture is cheaper than using solid wood. The low grade timber is coated with a polymer laminate to replicate various types of wood, allowing a high quality looking finished product.

History

[edit]
A detail of an open-source bedframe design, made from CNC-cut plywood

Ready-to-assemble furniture has roots that extend back a long way, as cabinetmakers have been making furniture that is easy to disassemble for transport for centuries. The New American Cyclopaedia of 1859 listed the assembly of furniture as an "American invention"[2] that emphasized ease of transport, but this claim is rather vague. A better claim to the earliest RTA furniture is the Thonet No. 14 bentwood chair, which was specifically made to be easily disassembled to save space during transportation.[3] It was first produced in 1859. Slightly later there is an American patent of 1878 that defines some prefabricated furniture as follows: "The invention refers to a class of furniture in kit to be packaged and transported in pieces and assembled by specialized and unqualified people."[4]

An early attempt at a business selling RTA furniture was set up by designer Louise Brigham and two partners during World War I. By 1915, Home Art Masters was offering RTA furniture kits at moderate prices through a mail-order catalog. The buyer received a set of parts that the company stated could be “quickly put together and finished. Everything including instructions, furnished. A boy or girl can set it up.”[5] Home Art Masters was short-lived and it is uncertain how many of their RTA furniture kits were ever sold.[5]

The next experiments in running an RTA business stem from the 1940s and 1950s. In the late 1940s, the Australian designer Frederick Charles Ward founded a mail-order RTA furniture business because he was disturbed by how little affordable furniture there was for people of modest means.[6] Lena Larsson helped to create one of the earliest Swedish brands of ready to assemble furniture, the TRIVA line, for Nordiska Kompaniet in 1943.[7] In 1953, the Ohio cabinetmaker Erie J. Sauder received the first U.S. patent for RTA furniture for a table that could be assembled without either hardware or glue; he called it "snap-together" furniture.[8][9]

In the Scandinavian countries, the furniture kit may have been independently invented by Swedish technician Gillis Lundgren, who had the idea when trying to transport a table in his car. According to reports, he had to saw off the table's legs so he could put it inside the car and bring it home. He talked about the idea with his boss at IKEA, and IKEA started selling flat-pack furniture in 1956.[10][11][12][13]

Uses

[edit]

Ready-to-assemble furniture can be purchased for a number of purposes:

  • Living room furniture
  • Office furniture
  • Bookcases
  • Tables
  • Beds
  • Lounge-ware
  • Outdoor furniture
  • Swingsets
  • Patio sets
  • Kitchen cabinets
  • CD/DVD storage racks
  • Wardrobes/closets
  • Desks

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ U.S. patent 202,505
  2. ^ Ripley, George; Anderson, Charles Anderson (1859). The New American Cyclopaedia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge, Volume 8. New York: Appleton. p. 30. Retrieved 31 August 2016.
  3. ^ Murphy, Adrian (5 November 2019). "The Chair Men: Gebrüder Thonet and the Number 14 Chair". Europeana (CC By-SA). Retrieved 2019-11-05.
  4. ^ "Improvement in chairs".
  5. ^ a b LaFarge, Antoinette (2019). Louise Brigham and the Early History of Sustainable Furniture Design. Palgrave Macmillan.
  6. ^ Carter, Nanette. “Blueprint to Patterncraft: DIY Furniture Patterns and Packs in Postwar Australia”. Archived 2021-04-25 at the Wayback Machine Design History Foundation, n.d.
  7. ^ Brunnström, Lasse (2018-10-18). Swedish Design: A History. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-350-00013-1.
  8. ^ Combs, Heath E. “Sauder to Offer Replica of First RTA Table”
  9. ^ Forster, Matt. Backroads & Byways of Ohio: Drives, Day Trips & Weekend Excursions. Countryman Press, 2018.
  10. ^ "Ikea's Billy bookcase designer Gillis Lundgren dies aged 86". Dezeen.com. 2016-03-14. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  11. ^ Karl Ritter (12 March 2016). "Gillis Lundgren: Designer of some of Ikea's best-selling furniture who also helped develop the firm's self-assembly concept | Obituaries | News". The Independent. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  12. ^ Langer, Emily (2012-12-14). "Gillis Lundgren, designer of Ikea's ubiquitous Billy bookcase, dies at 86". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
  13. ^ "Gillis Lundgren". The Times. Retrieved 2016-03-29.
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