What if outfitting your home was basically a giant game of LEGOs?
It’d be pretty damn fun, for starters.
But you’d also be able to simply and endlessly reconfigure your shelves, tables and racks to accommodate your ever-evolving needs.
That’s the goal of Aalo. Recently launched, the DIY furniture maker aims to blend your sense of design with the convenience of IKEA, all whilst using far superior materials. It also marks an end to the idea of disposable furniture and indecipherable instruction manuals.
The inspiration behind Aalo? Lots of moving and an innovative car company. “As a city dweller, I was moving between places quite often, which meant my space arrangements were frequently changing,” explains founder/design lead Sejun Park, a former mechanical engineer and industrial designer. “Each time I struggled to find furniture items that would fit my new space perfectly. Customized furniture was out of my budget, and trying to create a DIY solution required time, money and special tools which I didn’t have.”
After a failed attempt to hack an IKEA shelf, Park decided to forge his own way, using better materials (like weatherproof aluminum) and a design approach inspired in part by his time at Toyota, which promotes “elimination of Muda (waste)” and “Kaizen (continuous improvement).”
Where Aalo’s modular shelves, racks and tables truly shine is their use of common parts, meaning you can reuse and adjust your furniture as needed. All of the aluminum beams in Aalo’s wares come pre-cut to length with a premium powder coating finish, so there’s no cutting, fastening or applying finishes. Just take your furniture out of the box and start assembling, no skills or special tools required.
The company just launched a series of custom-fit, mix-and-match shelves that are 30% off during launch, with free design service and a 365-day home trial (turn ‘em into anything from shoe racks to wall storage). A dynamic desk solution is soon to follow, as well as an online community where you can share, buy or sell design ideas using Aalo’s parts.
Oh, and pro tip? Aalo is currently offering 20% off with the code AALOEARLY.
Rebuilding your home is about to become a snap.
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