Ehlén Johansson

Ehlén Johansson chose to study at HDK, the School of Design and Crafts at the University of Gothenburg, which allowed her to explore crafts and industrial design. She started her journey at IKEA as an intern in 1984 and has, for almost 40 years, created everything from vases and glassware to wardrobes and bedroom furniture.

As one of Sweden’s most prominent designers, Ehlén has won multiple design awards. She finds inspiration in nature and bases her work on the IKEA concept of Democratic Design – smart and functional also in production. “If the ideas don’t work in industrial practice, they’re not good enough!” she says.

When IKEA launched its first PS collection in Milan in 1995, Ehlén Johansson was an important part of the design team. In the second generation of the IKEA PS collection in 1999, her thriftiness and ingenuity became evident with designs like her interlocking PS tealight holders. The idea came to her on the factory floor in Poland, at a site where workers had made the old-type fuse boxes.

“Maybe that’s what creativity is all about? Finding inspiration from anything and turning it into something new,” says Ehlén, adding that the factory had to switch to more modern tools to meet demand. Another favourite product is the IKEA PS SINKA cupboard from 2009, with 16 drawers.

As a freelancer, Ehlén Johansson develops her own products but also designs for other brands. For the 2024 Nytillverkad collection, she reinvented one of her old IKEA products, namely the 1994 series OPTIMUM, with chubby vases. While the originals were produced in matt-glazed flintware, Ehlén chose to make the vases for a new generation in more durable stoneware and fresh new colours. “If asked to design a new vase, I would have started from scratch. With SKOGSTUNDRA, I could begin where my old design left off and improve it,” Ehlén said.