If you've surfed the Internet looking for Oak, Santa Fe, or Mexican Corona furniture, perhaps you've seen items listed as flat pack. Do you know what that means? Do you know why flat pack pieces are considerably less expensive? Read on to learn all you need to know.
In simple terms, flat pack is a means of packing and shipping in a way that reduces size. Flat pack furniture kits are unassembled; they are the set of panels used to create the furniture piece, plus all the hardware necessary; thus, the name.
Shipping furniture in this manner means a much less bulky package for the shipping company to deal with. That translates to a lower shipping cost and considerably less risk of damage. That's good for the bottom line. But on the other end of the shipment, someone still has to put the furniture together.
If you're a handy person with the right tools, and you don't mind assembling that new oak dining table, flat pack might be just the right option for you. All you'll need are a couple of wrenches and a screwdriver or two. Full instructions are included in the packaging to help you get your table up in no time. Just don't attempt in on Christmas Eve. We all know what happens to assembly projects on that one night of the year.
Fortunately, for people who are not mechanically inclined, there are companies in the U.K. who provide assembly services. And even if you are mechanically inclined, but recently bought an entire home's worth of Corona furniture, you can still hire an assembly specialist to give you a hand.
Furniture assembly is such big business that an entire industry as sprung up in Europe. You simply order your furniture online, have it shipped to your home or office, and schedule an assembly company to take care of the rest. They will come to your location, assemble your products, and make sure they are fully functional before leaving.
Some of the better assembly services will test your furniture to make sure it's solid and sturdy, and even do their best to correct poor workmanship or mistakes that may have occurred at the factory. If they are really good, the assembly company will even provide customers with a limited guarantee of their services.
The only down side to hiring an assembly company is the cost. You purchased that new Corona bedroom set in part because of the low price. You accepted a flat pack delivery, again, partly due to the lower shipping charges. But if you don't get a decent quote from your assembly service, all those savings could be wiped out. I suppose that's still better than making a mess of things yourself.
There are lots of arguments around for all types of floors, and much of the time the decision is ultimately about decoration. How you perceive your finished room to look in your head is all that really matters. Of course there are other factors that come in to play in certain circumstances. If the house in question is home to a few young children then you’ll understand why white carpet in the family room is a bad idea.
People can argue that a laminate floor gives the room a cold feeling and is not conducive to a cosy environment. Well with the popularity of super thick rugs on the increase, the idea of a room looking cold because of the flooring has an easy fix. Obviously the high traffic areas, areas near external doors and areas around seating would be at no risk of damage from spillages with laminates. This has to be one of the main reasons that people want to have laminate flooring.
If you want to ever change the look of a room with laminate flooring fitted, all you have to do is paint the walls and change the rug. Hey presto, instant make over a la Lawrence LLewelyn Bowen. The versatility of laminates is another big plus point which could add to the life of a floor. All these and that’s without mentioning how easy they are to fit.
When they first started becoming popular all a few years ago, fitting laminate floors was a task you wouldn’t undertake lightly as they were held together with glue. Now you simply tilt one against the other and they click in to place. It really couldn’t get any simpler. It’s because of this, that laminate flooring goes down very quickly and there is not too much disruption to your home. Like laying a carpet, if you really needed too you could even lay half the room and then move the furniture to allow you to lay the rest.
Then of course there are the different wood effects that you can go for on the laminate flooring. There are variations to suit every house. If you want the same wood as your doors and their frames or your skirting boards then you can be sure to find matching shades.
The only other worry that people have mentioned when asking about laminate flooring is about scratching of the surface. As well as having scratch resistant surfaces, nearly all laminates come with at least a ten year guarantee and many are much longer than that all the way up to lifetime. With all these advantages, it’s really hard to imagine why anyone would ever want any other flooring.