The “Two-Second Rule” Is My Secret for Finding the Best New IKEA Products

Ever since IKEA discontinued their annual catalogs (RIP), it’s essentially impossible to keep tabs on all their new arrivals — unless you’re making monthly trips to the store, and who really has time for that? I’ll occasionally get targeted Instagram ads for new-to-me furniture and decor, but some of the best launches still slide under my radar. Recently, though, I discovered the simplest IKEA online shopping hack that’s a total game-changer for that very reason (and it takes just two seconds!).

As someone who spends a lot of time on the IKEA website, I can confirm they don’t make it easy to browse new pieces online. Of course, their site does have a dedicated “New & trending” section, but I find it to be overwhelming and not particularly up-to-date — a lot of the same things seem to be featured over and over. That’s when I learned that if you shop for a specific furniture or decor category, the product page is able to be filtered by new arrivals. 

It’s so simple to do: Once you choose a certain product type on the IKEA site, like bed frames, scroll to the top of the shopping grid. You’ll see a handful of filters like “Size,” “Color,” “Material,” etc., and on the very right there’s an “All filters” button. After you click on that, go to the bottom of the options, and there will be a setting to select new products — and voilà! The results will instantly populate with the most current items. 

When I tested this on beds specifically, it narrowed down the products to a digestible 31 total, vs. all 171 in-stock options. It even led me to a new version of the MALM storage bed I hadn’t seen yet!

This two-second trick works well if you feel bogged down by IKEA’s extensive inventory, especially if you don’t live near a store and exclusively shop online. Or, in case you love a particular IKEA collection like the BILLY or HEMNES, this means you’ll never miss out on a new addition. Another fun perk of exploring this “All filters” section is the ability to sort by bestsellers and scope out what other IKEA shoppers are loving, too. 

Again, I can’t speak to how often these “New products” collection pages get refreshed, and there’s no way to see exactly when an item launched (aka how new it really is). But this lesser-known filter makes it that much easier to get a firsthand look at IKEA’s latest and greatest releases that may have otherwise gone unnoticed, or even pick up on some emerging home design trends — I’m noticing a lot of polka dots and colorful stripes across the most recent textile collections!