Flat pack or self assembly furniture

Background

Although flat pack or self assembly furniture is still a relatively new phenomenon, furniture that could be taken apart for transportation has existed for hundreds of years. Medieval four poster beds were designed to be dismantled so their wealthy owners could be accompanied by them when travelling.

The requirement for furniture that could be easily transported also led to the evolution of folding campaign furniture, used by military officers and explorers since the 18th Century. The invention of screw cutting lathes in the late 1700s and the subsequent widespread availability of woodscrews, made it much easier for craftsmen from the 1850s onwards to build large items such as wardrobes that could be partially dismantled for transportation.

Flat pack furniture finally became feasible due to technical developments in large scale precision manufacturing during World War 2. At last it became possible for high volumes of furniture to be built in a component form that had a reasonable prospect of fitting together properly when assembled by the customer. Despite materials shortages, flat pack furniture arrived during the early 1950s, with advertisements from numerous companies appearing magazines in Britain and overseas.

Cheap and cheerful

During the 1950s and 1960s flat pack furniture was immensely popular. Wartime bomb damage had made second hand conventional furniture almost unobtainable and commissioning new furniture was beyond the means of most ordinary people. The new flat pack furniture meant even those with little or no woodworking skills could still acquire reasonable furniture at an affordable price.

Serious contender or bad joke?

Flat pack furniture was widely accepted and became increasingly sophisticated in its design and appearance. By the middle of the 1970s it seemed that almost everyone had tried building their own flat pack furniture and the shared experiences provided a rich fund of material for comedians, writers and TV sitcoms.

Gradually, increasing affluence and the relentless tide of jokes caused flat pack furniture to nosedive in popularity. Companies that had been widely associated with the genre found their sales plummeting.

A new millennium and a new era

Today flat pack furniture has been revised and many companies, particularly at the top end of the market, offer furniture ranges that are of a comparable quality to the fully assembled counterparts. Techniques, finishes – and instructions – have all been improved. In an attempt to further distance the products from the discredited items of the 60s and 70s, many retailers now prefer to use the phrase self-assembly or ready to assemble furniture.