While companies like ABC Home and Design Within Reach tout the idea of bringing high design to the masses, their items are still out of reach for most of us. That's especially true for frequent movers, for whom it's hard to justify shelling out big money for furniture that might get left behind.The increasingly popular flat-pack furniture model. It's generally affordable, you can buy it immediately, assemble and dissemble it at will, and you can furniture shop without leaving your couch (or floor, as the case may be). IKEA led the way, we'll give it that. But other companies have taken flat-pack furniture and made it better: sturdier, sleeker, customizable, and able to survive multiple moves. Lately, these new flat-pack purveyors been coming out of the woodwork. Here are our top five. Hem, the furniture spin-off of the late e-commerce site Fab, sits right between mass-market flat-pack furniture and pricey high design. Hem's pieces feature sleek, Scandinavian-influenced design (after being acquired in February, the company is now based in Sweden), and many items can be customized online.
Price-wise, it's a far cry from IKEA—sofas top out at about $1,800; coffee tables are around $315—but it's still a steal compared to DWR, where sofas start at around $3,000. When it comes to customized online furniture, Tylko takes the cake. Launched last year and backed by startup champ Yves Behar, the Polish furniture company has its own app that allows consumers to tweak the designs of a basic selection of products. Using your smartphone camera, you can test out what the design looks like in your home, all while seeing in real time how the changes affect the price. The selection is limited—all furniture is wooden, and the offerings are basically tables and shelves—but you'll have a hand in the creation. The Detroit-based furniture company Floyd launched in 2013 with the Floyd Leg, a simple clamp-on metal leg that could transform any slab of wood into a table. Since then, the company has grown to include full-fledged tables, a handy bed, and a shelving unit, but has retained its dedication to simplicity and those clever metal frameworks.
Floyd's products are exciting for their endless potential for reincarnation—with the metal legs and handsome hardware, it's easy to switch out wood at your whim. The Providence-based flat pack purveyor Greycork with an Indiegogo campaign and has been on the up and up ever since. This month, it launched a new site and a complete living room collection . It's basically a fresher, more stylish, better-quality version of IKEA. It's also the closest in price to the Swedish behemoth—you can get the entire living room set for $1,700, about half the price of a DWR sofa—but it is made to last five to ten years, with "two to three moves in between." Leave it to an ex-Apple engineer to rethink not only furniture, but also the system by which it gets to you. Brad Sewell's e-retailer Campaign was designed to pack flat and fit back into its original cardboard packaging to be shipped via Fedex or UPS for your next move (or slid into your trunk). So instead of shipping your books and kitchen equipment and leaving the furniture for the curb, you can also ship your couch.
Right now, the company only offers an armchair and two sofas—and due to overwhelming demand, they've sold out until August. But you can still reserve them now. Never miss a story. I'd also like to receive special Fast Company offers View room photography from our various collections Search Thibaut by Color, Design, Scale or Collectionget startedLike most enthusiasts of design, we’re big fans of IKEA, both for their products and as a business. However, it’s near impossible to name a single direct peer to the Swedish giant. We’re here to offer some alternative stores like IKEA for great designs at accessible prices. Obviously, we’re going to list 10 online stores other than ourselves (although, if you’re here, we hope you’ve checked us out). We’re also opting for stores where you can find products priced below the ranges of West Elm, Room & Board, and the likes. This massive online retailer is part of Wayfair. They consolidate a large assortment of modern products across all price ranges.
Amazing customer service to boot. Although it may take some time to browse through their massive catalog, there are good deals here. Overstock sells more than furniture and decor, but they have a surprisingly strong selection of modern styles at great discounts if you dig deep enough. Most products on Fab are high-end designer items, but look for the newer products that are made by Fab. They’re always available (despite what the countdown timer may seem to suggest) and are very inexpensive for their look and quality.Since you’re buying direct from small business owners/makers, the prices can be fantastic and the aesthetics truly unique. However, sifting through all the products to find the one you love can take time. As its name suggests, Scandinavian Designs has extremely similar style as IKEA. Though the prices are higher, the quality and aesthetics are also very nice. The younger, hipper, cheaper sister store of Crate & Barrel, CB2 carries a variety of modern, minimalist, and industrial furniture pieces.
Be prepared to pay a premium, but there are a lot of great craftsmanship and design. Dwell, our favorite magazine covering all things modern architecture and design, have a little known store that offer fantastic high-end designs at surprisingly accessible prices. Though they aren’t as economical as IKEA, you can find many items near the CB2 range with a tremendous design appeal. The products on World Market are less modern, leaning towards a chic, industrial, worldly look. You can find some good items here at good price ranges. Pier 1, similar to World Market, doesn’t have the usual modern, Scandinavian aesthetics. Furniture and decor tend to have a contemporary look that attempts to fit in every home at price ranges that attract the masses. Urban Outfitters is one of the best sources for contemporary, chic, bohemian products. Though better known for clothing and apparel, their home department actually carries highly unique products that you won’t find on any of the stores listed above.