The tiny kitchen was ideal for the DUKTIG children’s series, which had been around since the launch of Children’s IKEA which provided children with props and encouraged role play around life at home. The department was presented in the 1998 IKEA catalogue as an investment in “the most important people in the world – children. … The result is the world’s biggest and perhaps cleverest playhouse, Children’s IKEA.”
In the early Noughties, almost all the home’s functions were represented in the DUKTIG series, from pots, pans, kitchen utensils and baking trays, to an ironing board, iron, cleaning equipment and a doll’s bed. The play kitchen was introduced in 2009 and presented in the IKEA catalogue in 2011. The original, the VÄRDE kitchen, had won a Red Dot Award for design many years earlier, for its strong expression and execution in solid, thick, light birch. The play kitchen was made in a similar design, and was also a great success.
The DUKTIG play kitchen was made with a battery-operated hob that can be turned on and off to give a life-like glow. It had a cupboard for all the kitchen equipment, and a sink with mixer tap. Moreover, the legs can be adjusted to three heights so the kitchen can grow with the child.
