Modular Furniture in homes – decoded

 

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 19^th 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.

 Convenience of flexible systems of assembly:

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.

  Apartments with less ticket size fitting limited furniture of standard size:

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.

 Bedrooms : - Wardrobes  , Study tables , Dressing unit , Single beds & queen size Bed, Bed heads, Side units etc

 Kitchen :- Modular kitchen trolleys, Overhead storage systems,  Narrow Vertical units or tall units etc

 Living Dining : - Shoe racks, Sofa seating systems ,  Recliners, Centre tables, Corner pieces T.V Units, Dining table with chairs / benches & crockery storage systems etc.

 Most local stores as well as branded modular brands offer exactly the above in standard sizes & variations based on the materials & hardware used.

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.

 Elegant look within budget

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.