HJÄLPA Soft closing hinge

"All you need is your hands," says product developer Freddy Kramer while clicking together one UPPFÖRA frame after another. Yes, clicking. The secret is a type of plug called a wedge dowel. Freddy goes on to explain why assembling or taking frames apart easily is an important detail. "People's lives are changing more and more today ─ we move more often, live in smaller spaces and maybe share a home with others at times. That's why our needs don't look the same throughout life."

Freddy shows how the frames can be arranged vertically, horizontally or like steps, to then be completed with shelves, wire baskets, clothes rail, drawers and doors. "Even the exterior can be used. You can place hooks there or a clothes rail which is fixed between two frames."

For SMÅSTAD to be truly long-lasting, quality was just as important as flexibility and ease of assembling. But improving quality without adding to the price is not easy. "Right quality in the right place," Freddy says, and opens a cabinet door. "Here on the outside of the door, which you see and touch every day, we've used a matt foil with fine texture, while the inside, which is not as exposed, is coated with a simpler base foil." The SMÅSTAD project took a lot of time and commitment. But it also gave results. "Those empty white boxes for the frames might not look like much at first glance, but they’re actually white boxes filled with love,” Freddy says, smiling.