Flat pack furniture is a super trend for convenience and style. Made of wood, metal or even cardboard, flat pack furniture resembles those 3-d puzzles, coming in one flat piece, with pieces that are to be removed and assembled. Chairs and tables are the most common flat pack items, but there is even an entire flat pack house made from cardboard being marketed!
The benefit of flat pack is its economy of space during storage and shipping. It is also ecological by design, often being made of recycled materials. The home assembly aspect means the price is significantly lower than a lot of other similar looking furniture. It is highly creative by design, making it super trendy among the twenty and thirty-somthing set.
While some flat pack furniture items are funky and arty-looking, others are far more elegant, making it hard to believe they came from a flat, assemble-it-yourself kit. But they do. One company makes a wooden lap-top desk and dinner table in a style that is entirely modern but with hints of vintage influences. The flat pack book shelf may be the simplest piece of furniture. You simply open it up and the shelves fall into place.
But it is the flat pack house that is the craziest of ideas. Although they are made of wood and pre-finished with a resin on both sides, they need a tarp or other plastic sheet to make them completely weatherproof. However they certainly are fun and whimsical. Assembling without any screws or fasteners, the houses are meant for temporary use. So if you've bought vacation property, and you know it isn't likely to rain, consider investing in a collapsible house!
When one considers the cost, it might be a better idea to just build a little permanent cabin on your vacation property. However the furniture pieces are quite practical, and with a wide variety of designers out there one can find a diverse line of simple-to-assemble, flat pack furniture. At the very least, they will be a conversation pieces.
