Designing Better Futon Furniture
Furniture manufacturers often introduce new products and improve them over time. The futon industry has also followed this pattern over the years. The construction of a futon frame consists of several main parts. They include a set of sections for arms, rails, racks and rear racks. Futon manufacturers vary the way they make these pieces and the materials they use in the construction of these frames. Of course, not all futon frames are created equal, and some manufacturers incorporate unique designs or features into their products that make them stand out. In this article, we’ll take a look at several popular current futon frame manufacturers who have brought design innovations to the industry, their histories, as well as the construction techniques and features they’ve developed over the years.
The August Lotz Story:
August Lotz began in 1897. Located in Wisconsin, they began making beekeeping equipment out of wood. Soon after that, they would branch out into making wooden furniture components for a number of different furniture manufacturers, carving out a niche for themselves in that industry. In the early 1990s, Mark Barton and Mark Schlichter bought the company. They wanted to create fine furniture out of solid wood, futons to be exact at a time when the futon industry was still quite young. Mark Barton was the lead engineer and developed the existing designs used throughout the August Lotz line of futon frames today.
Their August Lotz futon frame design is unique compared to other products on the entire market. The seat and back section slats are designed with an interlocking English dovetail system that joins the slat grid sections into the seat and back shelf sections. While many manufacturers used simple staples or nails for their slat support systems, Lotz was ahead of his time by incorporating high-end, old-world construction techniques into every August Lotz futon frame.
August Lotz frames are made of oak and many styles are available in a medium or English oak finish. August Lotz was acquired several years ago by a Wisconsin manufacturer by the name of SourceCut Industries. That same commitment to design and quality of materials has remained the same. Its convertible sofas won a Consumer’s Digest Best Buy Award for premium futon frames. An award given to less than 5% of manufacturers in a given industry. While its parent company, SourceCut Industries, offers domestic manufacturing, August Lotz products are imported with the same specifications and designs that have earned them the title of “best value on the market.”
The LifeStyle Solutions Story:
Founded in 1989 as Elite, LifeStyle Solutions entered the market with some unique designs in futon furniture. They were one of the first brands to incorporate Asian-inspired materials and designs into various lines of futon frames and have made an impact with their easy-open, front-operated futons.
LifeStyle Solutions imports its line of futon products from Indonesia that are manufactured to your specifications. It has always been important to LifeStyle Solutions that its products are made from sustainable forests and that its pieces are made from hardwoods grown on ITTO (International Tropical Timber Organization) certified plantations. LifeStyle Solutions has also earned the Sustainable Forest Stewardship Certificate showing that its production materials are legally harvested from well-managed forests, as defined by a comprehensive list of regulations.
CEO Sean Pathiratne leads this fast-growing furniture company and has built a reputation for creating exceptional quality and value in every LifeStyle Solutions futon frame. Much of LifeStyle Solutions’ futon furniture has a transitional design that will blend well with both modern and traditional home décor.
The history of night and day furniture:
In the late 1990s, Mike Gallawa founded Night & Day Furniture. His simple goal was to create futon frames that could be easily converted from a sofa to a bed, making sure the bolts could align and ensuring there was less hardware for the end user to deal with. Night & Day Furniture solved these problems with several patented features found throughout the Night & Day Furniture line.
Night & Day Furniture products are made from plantation-grown, eco-friendly rubberwood. Rubberwood is a member of the maple family of woods and offers a dense grain that aids in the kiln drying process. Rubber trees are latex producers and at the end of their cycle they are cut down and replaced with new seedlings. Made in Malaysia. Night & Day futon frames are made to the highest standards of quality and construction.
Night & Day Furniture futons incorporate several different design features that are said to make assembly easier for the end user. The shoe accessories TM patented operating system incorporates several types of unique hardware applications. The Snapper TM provides snap-on mounting and easy front conversion of your seat and back sections. ThumbNut TM is a barrel shaped nut that eliminates movement of the nut during assembly without the need for additional tools. Shoe Fittings TM systems are available in bronze or gold, depending on available features.
In this article, we take a look at several of the top futon manufacturers. Founded in the late 1800s, August Lotz transitioned from making wooden bee hive equipment to creating wooden frame covers using sliding English dovetail joinery. Mark Barton was Lotz’s principal engineer and created most of the concepts and designs currently used throughout the line. LifeStyle Solutions was originally founded under the Elite name and is an importing manufacturer that brought transitional designs to the futon industry. LifeStyle Solutions was one of the first brands to incorporate Asian-inspired designs and finishes throughout its line. Finally Night & Day Furniture founded by Mike Gallawa. Night & Day wanted to take a unique approach to futon design by simplifying the way futons fit together. The development of proprietary hardware and assembly methods allowed them to make a futon frame easier to put together.
I’ve always found it interesting how different manufacturers approach furniture design. Often many of the aspects of the design are similar or the same, but sometimes manufacturers take a unique approach to design or come up with a radical new concept that makes that piece of furniture so much better than other products on the market. This is the case for these manufacturers who have found ways to take an existing product line and make it even better.
