A piece of furniture does not usually begin with a free object found on Facebook Marketplace, a little foam and a sheet of printed paper.
asserted
piece → begin → paper
For Oskar Flodstrom, a 23-year-old artist based in Los Angeles, those inexpensive materials became the starting point for an unusual pill bottle-shaped side table.
asserted
materials → base → table
He had been making music and experimenting with art while working as a swimming instructor to cover his expenses.
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He → make → expenses
Furniture was not a business he had set out to build.
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he → set → ?
Yet a video showing his creation eventually attracted enormous attention online, bringing sales that he had not anticipated.
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he → show → that
In a conversation with Entrepreneur, the product generated $150,000 in gross sales over two weeks, following an initial investment of roughly $120.
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product → generate → 120
How Flodstrom developed his creative interests outside college
Flodstrom had enjoyed drawing and making things since childhood, though he did not initially see art as a practical career.
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he → develop → career
Engineering briefly appeared to offer a compromise between creativity and a more conventional profession.
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Engineering → appear → creativity
The disruption caused by the pandemic during his final year of high school also influenced his next steps.
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disruption → cause → steps
He decided not to attend college, citing the expense and doubts about whether a degree would help him pursue his interests.
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him → decide → interests
Instead, he began making music, drawing inspiration from American record producer and DJ Kenny Beats, while working out how to support himself.
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he → begin → himself
Teaching swimming lessons provided a source of income.
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Teaching → teach → income
His creative projects continued alongside the job, but they did not immediately develop into a reliable business.
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they → continue → business
Flodstrom was still experimenting with different materials and ideas, without a clear route from making art to earning money from it.
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Flodstrom → experiment → it
A free find from Facebook Marketplace became furniture
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find → become → Marketplace
The idea for the pill bottle table emerged while Flodstrom was looking for inexpensive ways to furnish his apartment.
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Flodstrom → emerge → apartment
Browsing Facebook Marketplace, he came across a clear, rounded acrylic base being offered for free.
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he → browse → base
He did not have a car, so collecting it meant travelling by bus and carrying the object home himself.
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collecting → have → object
Flodstrom had an idea of the shape he wanted but had not settled on the materials needed to complete it.
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he → have → it
Eventually, he used foam for the upper section and added paint and a paper label to make the piece resemble an oversized medicine bottle.
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piece → use → bottle
The finished object was assembled on a modest budget.
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object → assemble → budget
Since the acrylic base cost nothing, the remaining materials accounted for most of the approximately $120 he spent bringing the design together.
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he → cost → design
The printed label alone cost around $12, according to his account to Entrepreneur.
uncertain
label → print → Entrepreneur
A familiar household object had been enlarged and repurposed as a table.
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object → enlarge → table
The design also left room for other uses, something that would become important when Flodstrom began showing it to a wider audience.
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Flodstrom → leave → audience
How Flodstrom turned discarded materials into creative furniture
The pill bottle table was not Flodstrom's first attempt at making furniture from discarded or inexpensive materials.
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table → turn → materials
He had previously created a chair resembling an avocado, which sold for around $500.
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which → create → 500
He had also found useful objects left on the street in Los Angeles, where people sometimes leave unwanted belongings outside when moving home.
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people → find → belongings
These projects were part of his wider interest in making things rather than an established furniture business.
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projects → make → business
At first, he considered placing the pill bottle table in the background of a music video.
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he → consider → video
He eventually decided to document its construction instead, using the process as material for a social media post under his creative name, Erik Oskr.
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He → decide → name
The video gave viewers a way to see how the object came together, rather than presenting it simply as a finished product.
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object → give → product
A manufacturing partnership helped turn the design into a product
The original video attracted attention in June 2026, bringing Flodstrom's work to the notice of NO LOGO, a company that helps creators and businesses develop products without having to establish their own manufacturing facilities.
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creators → turn → facilities
The company offered to produce a sample using photographs and measurements of his design.
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company → offer → design
During the process, the partners made a change to the lid material to improve its stability.
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partners → make → stability
NO LOGO also helped Flodstrom establish a Shopify website through which customers could buy the table.
uncertain
customers → help → table
Developing a version that could be sold required a different set of decisions, including how to reproduce the design and present it as a commercial product.
uncertain
that → develop → product
Flodstrom was still living out of a car he had bought when the sample arrived, having found himself between places to stay.
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sample → live → places
A representative from the company asked whether he would take part in an interview about the table.
asserted
he → ask → table
He agreed, without expecting the conversation to lead to much.
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conversation → agree → much
…and 21 more, not listed.
The Aporia
