Ready to assemble furniture, known as RTA furniture to retailers, has been popular in Europe for years but is only now becoming popular in the United States. The popularity of RTA is now rising quickly, however, because it offers a practical, money-saving way to invest in high quality home furnishings.



Purchasing high quality bedroom or dining room sets can set you back thousands of dollars when you shop at a high end furniture store. When you add in the difficulty in finding what you really want (often visiting several stores before deciding), the lengthy time involved before receiving an order and the high cost of shipping, furniture shopping can turn into a nightmare. Europeans have known the solution for years ? RTA furniture can be shipped much more quickly because it isn't pre-assembled and the cost is much less because there are no assembly fees and the shipping is much more reasonable.

Most RTA furniture is sold online, giving you a world of options and styles to choose from. Rather than spend weeks trying to visit different traditional furniture showrooms and trying to fit them into your schedule, you simply spend an evening online. Greater variety is available because you can look for particular woods, grains and styles and most furniture sets are available in several finishes. Since everything is shipped from large warehouses, there's no waiting for a ?special order? that could take weeks or even months.

RTA Provides Quality at Lower Cost

Is RTA furniture of the same quality as pre-assembled furniture? It depends on the company you order from, but in most cases the only difference lies in the fact that you will be assembling the furniture yourself rather than relying on the factory to do it for you. This can save you hundreds of dollars on a dining room set, which takes only a few hours to assemble. In most cases, the only tools you may need are included with the furniture.

RTA furniture is generally made of the same high grade wood and other materials as its pre-assembled counterparts. When assembled, the joints meet as cleanly and the hardware is just as strong and attractive. In fact, the trend toward RTA home furnishings has contributed to even more attention to detail.

When you order RTA furniture, it is shipped ?knocked down,? or packed flat with all of the pieces and hardware included in a flat shipping box. This greatly reduces the cost of shipping and allows you to save even more money. If you live in an apartment or move frequently, you can simply disassemble your furniture and repack it for easy transport to your next home.

The styles available in RTA furniture are more contemporary and up-to-date than what you may find in some traditional showrooms as well. Because manufacturers of RTA furnishings know that most purchasers tend to be younger, they respond by designing and making furniture that fits the latest home decorating trends, steering clear of the furniture you would see in your grandparent's formal rooms. Which leads us to one more advantage of RTA furniture ? since you've spent less, you can change your d'cor more often ? and you ca be sure there will be lots of gorgeous new RTA styles waiting for you!