Design 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 arms, rails, luggage rack, and rear rack sections. 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 will be the same and some manufacturers incorporate unique designs or features into their products that make them stand out. In this article we will examine several current popular futon frame manufacturers that have brought design innovations to the industry, their stories, as well as the construction techniques and features they have developed over the years.
August Lotz’s story:
August Lotz started in 1897. Located in Wisconsin, they began manufacturing wooden equipment for beekeeping. Shortly after that, they expanded to make wooden furniture components for a number of different furniture manufacturers, creating a niche for them in that industry. In the early 1990s, Mark Barton and Mark Schlichter bought the company. They wanted to create fine solid wood furniture, futon furniture to be exact in a time when the futon industry was still quite young. Mark Barton was the lead engineer and developed the existing designs that are used in the August Lotz line of futon frames today.
The design of your August Lotz futon frame is unique compared to other products on the market. The seat and back section slats are designed with an interlocking English dovetail system that joins the slat grille sections into the back and seat grille sections. While many manufacturers used simple nails or staples for their slat support systems, Lotz was ahead of its time by incorporating high-end old-world construction techniques into every August Lotz futon frame.
August Lotz frames are made from oak and many styles are available in a medium finish or English oak finish. August Lotz was purchased 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. Their convertible sofas won the 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 to the same specifications and designs that have earned them the title of “best value on the market.”
The LifeStyle Solutions story:
Founded in 1989 under the name Elite, LifeStyle Solutions entered the market with some very unique designs in futon furniture. They were among the first brands to incorporate Asian-inspired materials and designs into various futon frame lines and have made an impact with their easy-to-open, front-operating futons.
LifeStyle Solutions imports its futon line of 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 parts are made from hardwoods grown in ITTO (International Tropical Timber Organization) certified plantations. LifeStyle Solutions has also earned the Sustainable Forest Management 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 rapidly growing furniture company and has earned 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 allow it to blend well with both modern and traditional home décor.
The history of day and night furniture:
In the late 1990s, Mike Gallawa founded Night & Day Furniture. Their simple goal was to create futon frames that could easily be converted from a sofa to a bed, ensuring that the bolts can be aligned and that there is less hardware for the end user to deal with. Night & Day Furniture solved these problems with several proprietary features found throughout the Night & Day furniture line.
Night & Day Furniture products are made from rubber wood grown on organic plantations. Rubberwood is a member of the maple wood family and offers a dense grain that aids in the kiln drying process. Rubber trees produce latex and at the end of their cycle they are cut down and replaced with new seedlings. Made in Malaysia. The Night & Day futon frames are manufactured 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 patented shoe fittingsTM operating system incorporates several types of unique hardware applications. The SnapperTM provides snap-in mounting and easy front conversion of the seat and back sections. ThumbNutTM is a barrel-shaped nut that eliminates nut movement during assembly without the need for additional tools. Shoe FittingsTM systems are available Bronze or Gold depending on available features.
In this article, we have taken a look at several leading futon furniture manufacturers. Founded in the late 1800s, August Lotz went from making wooden bee hive equipment to creating wood framed decks using sliding English dovetail joinery. Mark Barton was Lotz’s chief engineer and created most of the concepts and designs used throughout the line today. LifeStyle Solutions was originally founded under the name Elite and is an import manufacturer that introduced 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 go together. Developing proprietary hardware and assembly methods allowed them to make a futon frame easier to assemble.
I have always found it interesting how different manufacturers approach furniture design. Often times, many of the design aspects are similar or the same, but sometimes manufacturers take a unique approach to design or come up with a radically new concept that makes that piece of furniture so much better than other products on the market. This is the case with these manufacturers who have found ways to take an existing product line and improve it even further.
