Oh, IKEA. For some, the name itself conjures up images of off-kilter bookshelves and teetering tables. For others, the modern-on-a-budget wares are necessary to adequately furnish a home. But though IKEA has become an international brand and a consummate capitalist success story, its roots in Scandinavian progressivism — both aesthetic and social — remind us that there’s more to the company than meets the eye.
The IKEA look echoes twentieth-century Scandinavian design in general (Image 2): blond woods, light neutral colors with the occasional bright pop color, lightweight, portable, oftentimes stackable, and, above all, affordable. These qualities stem in part from a cultural movement to make good design available to all people, as well as social policies aimed at fostering healthy, happy family homes.
Sweden wasn’t always the posterchild for progressivism. In the early twentieth century, Stockholm, alongside Helsinki, had the lowest standard-of-living in Europe, with cramped, dark apartments where people slept four to a bed. Birth rates were low, alcoholism was high. After 1932, when the Social Democrats were elected to power, the government began subsidizing new, healthier housing (big windows for light and air circulation, balconies), and actively promoted contemporary, affordable furniture suited to a relaxed family home — urging newlyweds to avoid the fashion of paying a lot for traditional-looking furniture that was too formal to be used by young families.
In this new environment, IKEA began mass-producing inexpensive, modern-looking furniture (Image 3). Ingvar Kamprad formed IKEA in 1943 at the age of 17. He had been turning a profit selling low-priced matches to his neighbors in rural Sweden since he was five (makes me reconsider sending my daughter to summer camp — get to work, little girl!). Adding the first initials of his family’s farm (Elmtaryd) and his village (Agunnaryd) to his own initials, Kamprad began selling items like pens and nylon stockings at reduced prices, first in door-to-door sales calls, and then by mail-order, to keep up with high demand. In 1948, IKEA began producing furniture, and the first catalog was published in 1951 (Image 1). In 1956, Kamprad hired four Danish designers to form an in-house design team, including Erik Wörts, who had previously helped develop the first flat-packed, DIY assembly-required furniture suites. And thus, IKEA as we know it was born (Image 4-7)!
IKEA’s fortunes soared in the 1960s, when the Swedish government adopted a program to build one million new apartments in ten years. All those new homes spurred demand for inexpensive furniture in the modern Scandinavian aesthetic — thousands lined up for the opening of a new Stockholm store in 1965 — check out the 1965 IKEA Catalog in this post. The company’s local success in Scandinavia allowed them to begin expanding internationally. There are now around 315 IKEA stores in 36 countries — their signature blue and yellow exteriors a reminder of the company’s roots in progressive Swedish values (Image 8), even as their yearly global revenues approach $30 billion.
SOURCES:
• I am indebted to Maria Perers, a scholar and curator, whom I have seen lecture many times on this subject.
• The IKEA website has a fun timeline if you want to see more.
• Want to get even deeper into the story? This book by Elen Lewis explores the origins of the brand, and its incredible success.
• Want to hear the other side of the story? Check out this Apartment Therapy post on Ellen Ruppel Shell's article on the unsustainability of IKEA in The Atlantic.
• In Stockholm this summer? Visit the Liljevalchs Konsthall for an exhibition about IKEA.
(Images: 1 The cover of the first IKEA catalog, from 1951: image from a lovely piece on the IKEA museum in Älmhult, Sweden, by Caroline Taret at Marie Claire Maison; 2 On the left, an image from Carl and Karin Larsson's home in Sweden, decorated around 1900, which became a model for 20th-century Scandinavian design, compared with an IKEA catalog from the 1990s on the right: Images by Maria Perers; 3 IKEA chairs from the 1940s at the IKEA museum, from Marie Claire Maison; 4 The Lövet table (1955), IKEA's first flat-packed piece of furniture, from Marie Claire Maison; 5 IKEA ad for the Trofé collection (1969): Image from the Swedish IKEA website; 6 IKEA's Skopa collection (1974): Image by A. Lorenzo for Die Neue Sammlung, a design museum in Munich; 7 Image from the 1984 IKEA catalog with Klippan sofas (first designed in 1979), image from Swedish IKEA; 8 IKEA catalog from the 1990s on the left, Larsson home from 1900 on the right, from Maria Perers)
Anna Hoffman received her Master's Degree in the History of Decorative Arts from Bard, and is now an instructor of Design History at Parsons.
© 2009 Apartment Therapy
great history! Even if it will result in some longwinded post about Ikea destroying the earth and humanity.
view ec05's profile
thanks for this post!
view Chloe C's profile
I'm an IKEA fan. My home is furnished almost exclusively w/hand-me-down furniture and thrift shop/curbside finds. The few new pieces I own are from IKEA, and I'm happy to have them.
For me and my friends, just going to an IKEA is a treat. The brightness, cheeriness, and affordability (not to mention the prospect of snagging a tasty lunch and picking up some pantry items to take home) make for a lovely outing. I think that, if there were more IKEA stores, the world would need fewer antidepressants.
Also, I hear that they treat their employees very well, unlike many big box stores we could name.
VIVA IKEA !
view mirandabee's profile
I am fortunate that I have an IKEA not too far, it's a drive to get there (about 30 to 45 minutes away) and has been in existance since 1995 or so and I've watched that store expand exponentially over time and it's in an industrial area and the buildings were former hangers if I am not mistaken.
The actual store takes over I think one large hanger and part of another and parking takes up 2 hangers and a small segment of the origianal covered parking is now for the disabled.
When it opened, it only took up 2 hangers, one for parking, the other was partially occupied by the store and self service area and a breezeway in between the 2 hangers.
I love IKEA and many of its more modern pieces are quite nice and sensible and in many ways, timeless in style which you can't say about many so called modern or contemporary designs.
While I would not decorate my place all in IKEA, but several of their furniture pieces has found a home in my home and look fine wither pieces I've procured over time.
view ciddyguy's profile
Say what you will about IKEA, they've made good design affordable. While I love DWR, Blu Dot, etc., sometimes I want to tell them to kiss my ass for pricing everything so out of reach. I prefer to get most of my furnishings from thrift stores, etc., but IKEA is always there when I can't find the right size book shelf or need a sleeper sofa in a pinch.
view editrix26's profile
:) Finally a post with everyone not bagging Ikea. I've always been about 30 minutes away, and we managed to be "blessed" when moving out of state for my husband's schooling to continue... that's right, the Ikea is the only one in the whole state AND it's less than 2 miles away.
view dunklekatze's profile
This is so interesting to me. I had no idea Ikea actually had a history.
view royaltygirl's profile
Are those quilted slipcovers on the Klippan sofas? Love the colors, and they make the sofas look Togo-esque. By any chance, are they still available?
Also, I wish IKEA still made the Skopa collection. Would make fun outdoor furniture at a much more reasonable price than the stuff from DWR.
Thanks so much for this interesting post. In the history of IKEA, has the store ever been persuaded into bringing back a discontinued favorite? If so, what was brought back and how did it happen?
view rhodajr's profile
read the ingvar kamprad biography, it will make you love ikea even more. say what you will (i'm glad everyone here seems to be positive) but to those of us with active imaginations and not enough space or cash to carry out those plans (yet), IKEA is one of my favourite things on earth. ingenious, environmentally friendly, unique, and beautiful designs!
view hla21's profile
rhodajr: I just googled the Skopa collection...that is totally fabulous! Too bad they no longer make it, because I would snap that right up!
I'm an Ikea lover. I try not to furnish my entire home with Ikea, but I do have some pieces mixed in with vintage and thrift store finds and they all work together quite well.
view suzy8track's profile
Wouldn't it be nice if IKEA made a "Retrospective" collection of furnishings out of it's design history - such as the wing chair on the cover of the catalog shown above or the leaf-shaped table in pic #4?
view bepsf's profile
If IKEA made a 'retrospective' collection, it would sell out in a matter of days. Some of their past work is really beautiful stuff. Anyone have any sway at IKEA? Can we get this done? And I concur, VIVA IKEA!
view orchidday's profile
IKEA furnished my first pad when I got out of college in 1991. I still have a few of the pieces such as the Niklas wall system and my solid pine bed.
I was in Stockholm last summer and wanted to go to IKEA but it was so far outside of the city!
view BruinToo's profile
Hi -
I'm new to this forum and haven't seen an answer here lately to my question - I just moved into a co-op and am required to replace the wood floor, so that it is sound-proofed. I've gotten all kinds of different opinions from various contractors - Does anyone have any suggestions to offer? Thank you.
view brooklynl's profile
@brooklynl
Marcel Proust used cork tiles for soundproofing.
view hrhprincessfiona's profile