Modular furniture is ‘in’, traditional is ‘out’

 

Modular furniture industry has opened a whole new world of creativity featuring trendy modern designs, rainbow of colours and gelled with different materials to give a polished contemporary look to the home. That is why more people are gradually moving away from the traditional way of making wooden furniture at their homes and adopting the modular furniture concept or buying ready-made furniture to decorate their homes in a big way. But the final choice depends on a person’s lifestyle, requirements and preferences. There are people who prefer solid wood furniture that give a classic look and there are others who prefer modular furniture that offers posh contemporary look. “The trend of opting for modular furniture is growing at a remarkable pace. People are using machine-made furniture to decorate their kitchens, wardrobes and offices because it saves time, money and offers high quality finishing.

 

The concept of modular furniture is growing in popularity as it offers various advantages as compared to the hand-made carpentry work,” said Kirit Joshi, Director of Spacewood, one of the largest manufacturers of modular furniture in the country. Joshi further said that the machine-made furniture is far more superior as compared to carpenter’s work who only applies his expertise in wood to make products. Modular furniture includes multiple raw material like marineply, greenply, glass, aluminium, iron, brass, membrane past among other things to make products, that provide high level of finishing, which carpenters lack. Most of the shortcomings associated with carpenter’s work has been taken into consideration. “Modular furniture is more environmentally friendly and reduces waste. The materials used in the manufacturing process are recyclable and reusable,” he mentioned. “Accordingly, we offer loan facility to customers with up to 10 years warranty.

 

A combination of all these factors is driving demand for residential as well as office modular furniture,” he pointed out. “We are manufacturing premium quality products at competitive prices and our products match international standards. Spacewood is mostly exporting its products to countries in the Middle-East. We will be starting projects in US soon,” he added. Vilas Mate, Interior Designer and Planner in the field of furniture for more than 30 years highlighted that although modular furniture is gradually becoming popular in specific areas like kitchen and wardrobe these days, but the services of carpenter will always be needed for people who give ‘made to order’ designs or contract to carpenters. People still prefer to make their beds, sofa sets, dining sets and chairs in the traditional way of making furniture at home by the carpenters. Such people provide all the raw material to the carpenters. This type of work is done at the site. Furthermore, the services of carpenter will always be required as they do all the repair work and fix broken furniture. Most of the educational institutes like schools and colleges make furniture in the traditional way by employing carpenters.

 

These institutes require furniture of special design, type and sturdiness, which is made by carpenters on the site like the laboratory furniture, staff room, benches, smart room, computer room, meeting rooms and chambers. “I believe that the modular furniture is costlier and more delicate compared to furniture made in wood by carpenters,” he said. Sagar Bhadbhade, Customised Bespoke Furniture Designer/ Interior Designer, and Director of Ferro Art highlighted that the modular furniture concept has gained immense popularity as it saves time and money without the hassles involved in carpentry work. Machine-made furniture offers great finishing to the chairs and cabinets, kitchen furniture, dining table, wardrobe, sofa set, bedroom and living room. The modular kitchen sets and wardrobes are easy to transport, assemble and dismantle. People living in high-rise buildings can easily transport their modular furniture in kits and fit them in one or two days. Modular furniture has a pre-defined budget, so customers don’t have to spend more than they want. The machines can engrave designs easily. The CNC machines offer endless design and enlarge the scope of creativity. These are some of the advantages that customers can encash from factory-made furniture. “The future belongs to modular furniture,” he said. Vinod Chapke, Elegance Furniture, Nandanvan elaborated that the modular furniture is the new trend that has transformed the furniture industry. Customers can buy customised furniture according to their budgets and the space available in the home. Latest machines using upgraded technology offer plethora of designs, colours and international quality modular furniture at competitive prices. Mustafa Zakir, Iqra Industries, near Bada Tajbagh, Umrer Road, said that the accessories and fittings required for modular furniture like kitchens and wardrobes is booming because of the huge demand for these sleek products. Zakir is a manufacturer and supplier of fittings and accessories for the past 30 years. The modular furniture industry is growing rapidly in the past few years as people don’t have time to make furniture at home. They want high quality, premium finished and ready-to-use furniture within a short time with pre-defined budgets. This modular furniture industry is offering a variety of stylish new products and new designs every year attracting people. Shubham Jejani, Director Royal Life Furniture, Ghat Road, said that there has been a major shift in making furniture from traditional methods which are hand-made by carpenters to machine made furniture. The furniture design is undergoing numerous transformation. Modular furniture design is more focused on creative and space-saving. The younger generation is attracted to the new wave of designs that the modular furniture industry has brought in. Rehan Hussain Khan, owner of Apsara Interior Mall, near Gitanjali Square, behind Rajwada Palace, Gandhisagar, emphasised that the modular furniture is in heavy demand due to customisation of designs as per customers’ preferences. Apart from this, modular furniture is sturdy and to back this up, brands are giving more than 3 years warranty to the customers. Another advantage is that the raw material is Indian. Marineply is used to manufacture these products. These products are so sturdy and reliable that they can last a lifetime. “Modular furniture is available in ready to use knocked down kits and can be easily assembled saving a lot of time,” he said. Prakash Khemka, Director of Bharat Furniture, Sadar highlighted that the modular furniture or ready-made furniture trend is gaining popularity among the people. “There is a vast difference in the modular furniture when it comes to high quality finishing of the final product, as compared to hand-made furniture that has limitations,” he added.