We tend to think of flat pack furniture – or Ready to Assemble (RTA) – as having been invented in the middle of the last century, and probably created by Scandinavian designers.
In fact campaign furniture was very common in the 18th and 19th centuries with the British Armed Forces, officers only, which could pack down quickly into easily transportable pieces.
Campaign furniture was used by an even earlier general who travelled extensively with his army – Julius Caesar. The Roman army was renowned for its ability to create a properly defended camp after a day’s march and to pack it all up the following morning to be ready to march again.
This is even more amazing when you realise Caesar’s tent would be lined with costly hangings, furnished with chairs and tables and even a bed.
Over the millennia campaign furniture went through many changes and by the 19th century furniture makers began to use the idea for domestic furniture which could be packed flat to be sent to the customer and also stripped down to save space when moving house.
By the mid-20th century more manufacturers began to make flat packed domestic furniture but although high-end companies maintained quality there were those further down the chain who were not quite so thorough and customers often found screwholes misaligned and components not cut to exact measurements.
As you can imagine this led to frustration and despair for the poor customer who would have been told the furniture could be “assembled in minutes with just the aid of a screwdriver”.
Four hours later the piece might finally be put together – but only with the aid of a screwdriver – and a hammer, a saw and various other tools (if you happen to own such items).
Over the years – and there have been a lot of them – I have only bought flat packed furniture three times and appear to have struck lucky every time.
The first was in the late 70s when we needed a dining set suited to a somewhat compact dining area. We settled for a refectory style table, monks bench and simple backless bench.
When it arrived I managed to assemble it in about an hour and a half and we used it for our meal that night.
The whole set used a combination of wooden pegs, wooden turnlocks and a a few screws. A screwdriver and a mallet, to knock in the pegs, and that was it. It was just as easy to disassemble for moving, which was just as well because since then it has travelled around the UK and halfway around the world.
The next flat pack was bought in Australia and consisted of an armoire and two bedside set of drawers. These were a little bit more fiddly to assemble with drawers to put together, handles to attach, hinges and slide in drawer backs and sides.
These items took longer to assemble and as well as a couple of different size scans and a rubber mallet I had to use a bit of glue to strengthen some of the joints, which meant the items could not be easily dismantled for transport.
We still have the armoire and two bedside drawer units.
The third item was a wardrobe with mirrored sliding doors.
This was in some ways easier in that it had less screws and no handles. The problem lay in the weight of the mirrored doors and trying to get them into the right tracks, top and bottom.
This is the one item that is no longer with us as when we moved it was to a property nearby and we managed a DIY removal but the wardrobe was just too big and heavy.
So there we have it. Three examples of flat pack furniture and no major problems even though so many people throw up their hands in despair and have even been the butt of comedians’ jokes. In fact sitcoms on tv frequently spend most of an episode with the stars trying to put together a simple piece of flat pack furniture.
You may be wondering why I have chosen an experience going back decades.
It is because this weekend I have been assembling another flat pack table which consisted of over 20 wooden parts plus five bolts, four nuts and four washers and almost 40 screws.
How big was it?
About four feet high and eight inches square.
Yes, it’s a bird table and it took as long to Assemble as the refractory dining set for four people.
Robin's Nest 