Modular Furniture in homes – decoded
The
concept of modular furniture in residential design is not new. It has its roots
in the industrial revolution in the 19th century where mass
production and standardization of various furniture items. The Bauhaus movement
(1919-1933) in design focused on design & mass production of various items
like chairs, tables , chandeliers & other household furniture. The term
modular was popularized a theoretical premise of proportioning system in
architecture by famous architect Le Corbusier in the modernist movement. The
idea of factory made furniture utilized in living & work spaces gained more
traction in post world war II phase in the world but gained more popularity
through introduction of Scandinavian design systems & especially
introduction of IKEA as a brand in early 1950s to its popularity in 70s &
80s in Europe & America. In a country like India where the ideas were
introduced by institutes like NID & various furniture designers in the same
period, the brands known for producing storage systems & seating
systems like Godrej ot Nilkamal became
popular in urban areas much late in 80s
& 90s. This maybe because of the overdependence of traditional systems
based on craftsman & carpenters to make furniture utilizing materials like
wood sections , plywood & upholstery
Definitely the era post 2000 has seen many more international brands
like Pepperfry, Urban ladder, Evok, Usha Lexus, Godrej Interio, Home lane,
Lifestyle etc coming into the urban market. Currently the emergence of large
amount of non branded or locally made stores offering readymade furniture in
cities speaks much about the popularity of the concept. Apart from the above
branded furniture, concept of locally
made modular kitchen trolleys if much popular.
Following
are the current reasons why modular furniture is popular today:
Cheap & readymade furniture on demand:
The main reason of popularity of modular furniture items
among people remains to be the cost. As compared to custom
designed furniture made on site utilizing traditional systems of
interior designers & his team of craftsman, the average cost of making is
at least 20 percent to 30 percent more
than readily available modular furniture, especially in large cities for basic
furniture items like wardrobes, TV units etc. The emergence of pre laminated
engineered wood & medium density fibre board (MDF) as alternative material
to commercial ply board used traditionally can further decrease the average
price of furniture.
Where young professionals & millennials travel from cities to cities for jobs, rented accommodation is a norm amongst many. The tendency to buy furniture items that can be easily disassembled & reassembled is more here as it makes them easy to transport. Also it makes more sense not to spend on furniture in a temporary rental accommodation. The idea of going to a shop & buy a furniture item or order a modular system online is much easy than purchasing material & calling a carpenter at home who spends days making each item. Most standard brands offer post sales service of disassembly & reassembly. The made in factory parts hardly take any onsite time of assembly as compared to furniture work going on for weeks in the house. In households having small kids or elderly where carpenters and their team cannot be lodged for long time, modular systems offer an ideal solution for furniture.
If we observe the average size of apartments in large
cities, affordable units with less ticket size of carpet area are high in
number. A careful observation of floor plans of various apartments in large
cities gives us the average grid width of habitable rooms. Most bedrooms come
with an gross average usable width of 10 ft (3.0m) to 11ft (3.35m) with carpet
areas ranging from 100 sq ft to 120 sqft size. Kitchens have average usable widths
of 6.5 ft (2.0m) to 8.0ft (2.45m). Living & dining rooms get combined
offering a largest space in apartments but having average usabe widths of 11
ft(3.35m) to 12 ft (3.56m). These modest sizes lead to following furniture
items that can fit in.
The almost standard patterns of room layout has to
gradual standardization of sizes of most of the readymade & modular furniture.
For e.g. – Wardrobes come in modules of 2 ft -2.5 ft – 3.0ft leading to two door or four
door systems having overall size of 5.0 ft to 6.0 ft. This fits well in a 10ft wide bedroom.
Most furniture brands offer a good finish of factory made details to their customers. Standard branded hardware is utilized that offer durability. The cost variations within modular furniture is based on the degree of high finishes & quality of material used. Most modular brands offer streamlined design with minimum ornamentation which can go well in decor of most urban homes.
Customizable as per needs:
Though modular furniture is produced in limited
variations of sizes & standard popular colour schemes available in
materials used, it does offer customization. Especially in items like wardrobes
that can come in openable doors, sliding doors & corner storage systems,
this leads to lot of space saving. Wardrobes offer multiple systems of storage
& racks within their standard modules. Modular kitchen can be built today
using various materials like Stainless steel & Tandem for drawers & a
range of materials like acrylic , PVC or glossy laminate finished facia boards.
In living rooms & dining rooms storage & T.V. units can be customized
using smaller sized units within the assembly. Dining tables offer range of finishes in
tables as well as seating systems. Obliviously each degree of customization increases
the costs.
What are the disadvantages of Modular
furniture systems ?
- Though modular
furniture gives multiple possibilities in terms of sizes, systems &
arrangements, specific customization that is desirable for end users is
not possible. Also additions & modifications may not be possible
unless provision is not made by the manufacturer.
- Often, modular furniture
systems offer limited colour palate and limited range of hardware systems.
This can restrict design creativity while furnishing the interior spaces.
Also this may not give you the factor of ‘Uniqueness’ as similar furniture
systems may have been installed in your friends place.
- ‘Theme based’ interior spaces
demand certain look of the various furniture pieces used, which may be difficult
to attain using modular systems. For example there very few traditional
looking modular systems available in affordable prices that can go well with
an ‘Indian traditional theme’.
- As compared to made to
order furniture built of site using good quality materials & hardware,
customers may not be aware about the quality of base material like, ply
boards engineered wood or Mdf boards used.
- Since modular furniture
like storage or furniture units are assembly systems, hardware like
dowels, Allen wrenches, screws, nut bolts, rivets etc are utilized. As
against on site furniture built using boards put together with nails &
screws along with adhesives, the long lasting factor of overall assembly
of modular systems may be (at times) limited. This may happen especially
if the person assembling the overall furniture piece has limited skill
& capacity to put together the units.
What
could be ideal – Modular or built on site furniture?
There is not standard answer to this question. Available
budget & Time can be two definite parameters on which one can take a decision.
Ideally items like seating systems or dining table systems can be of standard
modular manufactures & remaining furniture can be built on site. Also one
can combine both systems gradually. This can happen especially if you are not
doing the entire interiors of your home at one go. Multiple units can combine
together to give the overall look in your homes. Selection of furniture systems
also depend on the ownership factors. In case of rental premises, modular
furniture can be an ideal decor. In case of self owned houses, where families are
planning to live for a long time, involving on site making of furniture may be
useful.
But definitely, It may be advisable to
involve a trained and experience architect or an interior designer while taking
decisions even about modular furniture especially regarding quality of
materials used, sizes that may fit and overall colour palate used
Regards
Ar. Hrishikesh Ashtekar
Disclaimer : Home furniture systems is a
complex & personal subject. Above views by author are personal & do not
claim any affinity towards any brand mentioned in the article.
