Arnold Merckx was born in Franeker and grew up there in a family of furniture makers: his father and grandfather were directors of a furniture factory. During school holidays he helped in the factory and thus gained experience in the trade at a young age. In Rotterdam he studied at the Academy of Visual Arts and Technical Sciences, after which he founded his design agency Arnold Merckx Design in Landgraaf. Since the founding of his own office in 1978, Merckx has worked for a large number of manufacturers such as Montis, Pastoe, Artifort, Extremis, Lande and Spectrum.