Ready to Assemble furniture is both cost effective and easy to move or transport. It comes in a wide range of finishes, and is the perfect way to get that unique piece like narrow bookcases or a corner bookcase. Here is a look at some of the different types of RTA furniture.

Ready-to-Assemble Furniture Has Many Advantages
By Archie Benjamin

Why should you consider buying furniture in Ready-to-Assemble form? Mainly, cost savings and convenience.

Nowadays more and more furniture manufacturers are selling high-quality furniture of solid wood with wood veneers in “Ready-to-Assemble” (RTA) form. This is sometimes called Knock-Down (KD) furniture. Many people are under the misconception that (RTA) or (KD) furniture is cheap and won’t last. They are confusing high-quality RTA furniture with paperboard furniture. There is a huge difference!

From the manufacturer’s point of view, the advantages of producing RTA furniture are numerous. Firstly, it is easier and cheaper to ship furniture in a box compared to shipping furniture that is fully assembled. Secondly, assembled furniture carries a high risk of getting damaged during the shipping process and can result in higher insurance costs. RTA furniture is more compact, and you can fit up to ten times the quantity in a container compared to standard assembled furniture. RTA furniture is also ideal for manufacturers who do bulk product runs. It is easy to set up an assembly line just producing and packaging furniture parts, as opposed to having an additional setup just to assemble the finished products.

There are also advantages from the customer’s side. People living in high rise buildings with narrow passages have difficulty in maneuvering large pieces of bulky furniture. RTA furniture is easy to transport, especially in confined spaces. Most RTA furniture is easy to assemble and generally comes with an easy to follow installation guide. The beauty with RTA furniture is that should you decide to move, you can simply disassemble the furniture in the reverse order in which you assembled it.

Most Manufacturers of RTA furniture in the United Stated use standard European Cam Pins and Cam Locks to join the pieces of wood together. This system is very secure and results in an extremely sturdy product. By using Cam Locks and Pins it is not necessary to strengthen the joins with toxic glues. This method also eliminates having to use nails, which not only damages the wood, but once the construction is complete, it is difficult to remove them without damaging the product. All pieces come with pre-drilled holes in which the Cam Locks and Pins fit.

The strength of the furniture is in the wood veneer or laminate. Although the laminate is very thin, it has amazing strength. The average bookcase shelf made with wood veneer can support 75 pounds of weight. Paper laminate, on the other hand looks very much like wood, but has very little strength and can only support about 20 pounds of weight. Furniture made with paper laminate is often referred to as “throw-away” furniture. There are two types of wood laminates, namely Rotary Sliced and Bookmatched. Bookmatched is more attractive and much more expensive than the rotary sliced because there is more work involved in matching the pieces of wood together.

RTA furniture is very versatile and can be used for a host of products. Popular KD furniture includes items such as; Bookcases, Storage Chests, Entertainment Centers, Computer and Executive Desks, Media Storage and Filing cabinets.

Archie Benjamin has been serving customers in the Retail sector for over 25 years. His company, Consigned and Designed Furniture, LLC at http://www.factoryfurnitureonline.com sells high quality solid oak with oak veneer furniture.

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