Get new perspectives on IKEA and life at home

Our roots

Go back in time and explore the origins of IKEA and Ingvar Kamprad. Hardship, thrift and ingenuity in Småland, Sweden, and visions of a new life at home for the many people. Simple, functional and beautiful.

The birth of IKEA

The trading company IKEA was registered on the 28th of July, 1943. But it was a far cry from the furniture company we know today. In his early years as an entrepreneur, Ingvar Kamprad imported pens, watches and nylon stockings, learning the ropes of purchasing step by step. But after some problems with import licences he started looking for new opportunities, and decided to focus on furniture. A business model gradually took shape when he realised that there was a major, interesting opportunity between the customer and manufacturer.

Meet Ingvar Kamprad

How did a regular young lad from Älmhult become one of the world’s most successful entrepreneurs? Classic Småland ingenuity and stubbornness are probably just part of the answer. Ingvar Kamprad was very much shaped by his childhood, which was filled with love and imagination. A childhood in which the grown-ups had time to play and listen. A safe world surrounded by forest and meagre soil. The ideal place to play businessman.

The swinging ’40s

The war ends and neutral Sweden gets a head start, boosting its economy and sense of community. From playing shop as a small boy, Ingvar Kamprad founds IKEA and a new era is dawning.

Maybe furniture?

Towards the end of the 1940s, IKEA started selling furniture, and it very quickly became the main business. Always thinking of challenges as opportunities brought about all kinds of innovations in purchasing, finances and distribution. The foundation for this was already in Ingvar Kamprad back in the days when he worked on a small scale with pens and pipes at home – but the power and opportunities in the gap between customer and manufacturer really materialised in the 1950s.

History of the logotype

IKEA today is one of the best-known brands in the world, and its hallmark is the characteristic blue and yellow logotype. But the logo (or logotype, or insignia, or emblem) hasn’t always looked like this. Because just like IKEA and its business, the logo has constantly been developing. Here we look at the logo’s evolution from 1943 to 2018, when the latest changes were made. So get your magnifying glass out, and join us for the story of the IKEA logo, from letterhead to head of everything!

IKEA News

The first edition of ikéa-nytt, IKEA News, came out in spring 1948. It was a simple mail order catalogue, primarily targeting retailers, who were promised good quality at low prices. All the texts were written by Ingvar Kamprad himself, and at the time he mainly sold different kinds and models of pens, under the heading ‘Pen sensation’. Watches and nylon stockings were also sold in ikéa-nytt, but no furniture. But that was soon to change.

Why is it called that?

IKEA product names can appear strange even to a Swede. Elsewhere in the world they’re virtually incomprehensible, but fun! Get the inside scoop on why IKEA products have such odd names, and learn about the intricate rules for naming them. Because there is a method to the madness.

Product stories 1950s

Life at home 1950s

1950s IKEA catalogues

The rocking ’50s

In the shadow of the Cold War, Sweden experiences a time of self-confidence and progress and Swedes have more money. IKEA opens home furnishing showrooms and what will become the first store in Älmhult.

When IKEA opened its new furniture showroom in Älmhult in 1958, everyone was there: the county governor, the chairman of the municipal board, along with press and critics from Stockholm, all curious to see the latest move from furniture rebel Ingvar Kamprad.

Price wars

Ingvar Kamprad’s experiment in selling furniture went well. So well, indeed, that the traditional furniture industry felt threatened by the rebel from the province of Småland. A price war started, boycotts were introduced, and competitors used every trick in the book to stop IKEA.

Where should the sofa go?

Selling furniture is one thing. Helping people realise their dreams is quite another. For IKEA, good tips and advice are just as important as design and low prices.

Product stories 1960s

Life at home 1960s

1960s IKEA catalogues

The political ’60s

The world is rocked by ideological conflict. In Sweden, social reforms improve living standards. A building boom creates a need for home furnishings and an IKEA flagship store opens in Stockholm.

Revolutionary!

The key to IKEA.

IKEA in Stockholm

A king, a fire, and a brand new IKEA.

Textile revolution New

Hanging on by a thread.

Textiles at IKEA 1965–1984 New

That’s not terribly ugly.

A bright and groovy home

Make yourself at home

Ingvar in Milan

Cześć, Polsko!

Swedish manufacturers did not have the capacity to meet Ingvar Kamprad’s demand. And a lot of the Swedish suppliers were also boycotting IKEA. So Ingvar decided to look for suppliers beyond Sweden. He had already begun working with Danish designers and manufacturers, but now it was time to turn towards Poland.

First store abroad

IKEA went international and opened a store in Norway. But how did that decision come about? Through a combination of planning, business and instinct. And a pinch of Norwegian anger.

Dear Brita!

At the end of the 1950s, the IKEA catalogues looked completely different to the later editions, with their styled homes and well-planned rooms. In fact, if we’re honest, the photos in the early catalogues were pretty threadbare. A sofa, a rug and a lamp, pulled together into a little group, sometimes by Ingvar Kamprad himself. All that was soon to change when a certain Brita Lang made an entrance at IKEA.

Quality

In September 1964, a sensational article was published in a Swedish interior design magazine, claiming that a 33 kronor (EUR 3.30) chair from IKEA was better than a virtually identical chair that cost five times as much. IKEA was delighted, but the rest of the furniture industry was furious and threatened to boycott the magazine.

More than a low price

IKEA is a balancing act between seemingly conflicting ambitions. Sales machine or inspiration? Business or people? For IKEA, it’s never been about choosing one or the other, it’s always both. Ingvar Kamprad’s original idea to offer products with both a low price and good quality has grown into a strong culture and identity. It is still a driving force at IKEA today.

Ingvar in America

In the early 1960s, Ingvar Kamprad started planning for further expansion of IKEA in Scandinavia and the wider world. But before focusing on the company’s journey, he wanted to broaden his own horizons. He went to the US to learn everything he could about distribution. But could the Americans really impress a man from Agunnaryd?

The world’s biggest restaurant

When Ingvar Kamprad opened the doors on his first furniture showroom in Älmhult back in 1953, he wanted to offer visitors coffee and a biscuit – a new phenomenon in the thrifty county of Småland back then. And it was a huge success. The queues were long, and when the biscuits started running out there was something of a panic.

Product stories 1970s

Life at home 1970s

1970s IKEA catalogues

The radical ’70s

A decade defined by political activism and discussion around consumerism. A good fit for the unpretentious style of IKEA. Despite the looming oil crisis, the great expansion begins.

Having a ball

Discover how designers Charlotte Rude and Hjördis Olsson-Une invented the first ball pit for IKEA Kungens Kurva in 1971, the pride of the children's area.

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Too big in Japan

In the early 1970s, IKEA decided to take on the Japanese market. Expansion outside of Sweden was going well in Northern Europe, and for many Japan felt like the natural, logical next step. They could see similarities between the Scandinavian design tradition, and Japan’s simplicity and wooden furniture.

Hej!

Step into IKEA and of course you are met by all kinds of furniture and other stuff, but not before you’re greeted with a huge Hej!, Swedish for ‘hello’, at the store entrance. You might say that the entire corporate culture exists in this hej. Not a slick how-do-you-do-sir-or-madam-what-can-I-get-you, just a simple hej.

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Spinning new yarns

When IKEA asked Vivianne Sjölin to take care of textiles at IKEA, her first instinct was to say no. After a decade in the crisis-ridden Swedish textile industry, she was ready for a change.

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The heaviest disaster

IKEA has made many mistakes over the years and has learnt a lot, but the heaviest one of all involved pianos.

Podcast

Made of wood

The story of IKEA is the story of wooden materials. And the story of wood is also a story about gaining the advantage. Find out how IKEA went from traditional hardwood furniture, to utilising everything from pine to bamboo and recycled wood. Always in close collaboration with suppliers and designers, in order to make the most from the least.

Design by IKEA of Sweden

Ideas for IKEA products are always inspired by needs and dreams in people’s lives at home. In this film, two generations of IKEA people tell the story of working towards fulfilling those aspirations. It’s about finding the best and most cost-effective solution, guided by all the different dimensions of Democratic Design – form, function, quality, sustainability, and low price.

Going nuts

The legend of the missing screw in IKEA flatpacks has existed since the 1960s, when IKEA began expanding dramatically. The logistics were not always up to scratch on the packaging lines, and sometimes an important component was missing from the little bag of screws, nuts and Allen key.

The store part 1

Explore the development of IKEA stores, from the very first showroom in little Älmhult to today’s city stores. IKEA people behind the scenes reveal the inner workings of setting up a store and striking the balance between home furnishing inspiration and sales.

The great expansion

Browse an interactive map to get an overview of the global expansion of IKEA. Starting in the 1950s, IKEA built stores and made business all over the world.

The Testament of a Furniture Dealer

Long before the rest of the world started talking about corporate culture, Ingvar Kamprad wrote down his vision and ideology for IKEA. He called it The Testament of a Furniture Dealer. It describes how IKEA needs to act to remain a successful, vibrant company. So what exactly is it all about?

Product stories 1980s

Life at home 1980s

1980s IKEA catalogues

The individualistic ’80s

As the global recession subsides, luxury consumption makes a comeback. The IKEA product range gets lost in attempts to keep up with global trends and the IKEA identity becomes muddled.

Beloved bag

A friend through thick and thin.

STOCKHOLM collection

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STOCKHOLM 1985 brochure

IKEA and advertising

Ever since Ingvar Kamprad’s first black and white ads for IKEA, the company has had the ability to attract shoppers and talk about its vision, to contribute to a better everyday life for the many people. Ingvar and IKEA were ahead of their time in marketing, both tactically and strategically – just the combination that many experts consider the basic recipe for effective advertising.

KLIPPAN

18 months in smoke and dust

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Cushion filling in a tube

A flexible failure

IKEA has always tried to find new, smarter ways of packing and distributing furniture. At the end of the 1970s, IKEA took inspiration from car seating in its attempts to pack sofas and armchairs into flat packs.

1980s metal

Booming stock markets, shoulder pads and postmodern design. The 1980s were about equal parts decadence and optimism. For IKEA it was a challenging decade, with both expansion and a quest for an identity. Could steel wire furniture be part of the answer?

Product stories 1990s

Life at home 1990s

1990s IKEA catalogues

The soul searching ’90s

The yuppie fades away and IKEA struggles with an identity crisis. It’s time to go back to the Scandinavian roots. While becoming a truly global brand, IKEA reclaims its soul.

Democratic Design

What is Democratic Design? Is it a road map for product developers, or a communicative tool that brings great ideas to the many people? In true IKEA style, it is of course both. Here, we explore the roots and application of the Democratic Design principle and its five pillars.

Do you speak hot dog?

How many brilliant ideas can you get thinking about hot dogs? Quite a lot as it turns out. In the mid-1990s, IKEA realised that the hot dog was a great symbol for good quality at a low price. That may be a lot to expect from a humble sausage, but it became an important piece of the puzzle in thinking freely and innovatively when it came to product development. But let’s start at the beginning, when a hot dog was just a simple hot dog.

When the eyes came off

When Catti Bengtsson’s phone rang one afternoon in May 1997, she had no reason to be concerned. For just over three years, she and her colleagues had worked hard and extremely carefully to create Children’s IKEA, a brand new department with everything from soft rocking-bananas to toys and bed sheets. But that phone call changed everything.

Children’s IKEA

Explore two stories about Children’s IKEA. Children and families with children have always been central to IKEA. But it was in the 1990s that things really took off. Find out about the early beginnings, how it works today, and what IKEA puts into making a range for the most important people in the world.

IKEA dot com

Travel back in time and see what the IKEA website looked like in 1998. Step inside our time capsule – a kind of condensed 1990s – and surf around.

Quality

In September 1964, a sensational article was published in a Swedish interior design magazine, claiming that a 33 kronor (EUR 3.30) chair from IKEA was better than a virtually identical chair that cost five times as much. IKEA was delighted, but the rest of the furniture industry was furious and threatened to boycott the magazine.

Coloured trees

Is it possible to dye trees while they’re growing? IKEA veteran Jan Ahlsén asked this question and tried to find the answer in the 1990s. Helping him were an inventor in Sweden and a Swedish forester in Laos. Here, we tell the whole fascinating story.

Something for everyone

At IKEA, there should be something to suit all tastes. But how do you create a varied range of products? Part of the answer can be found in a floral pattern from the 1990s.

IKEA 365+ series

Following the 1980s’ love of luxury and extravagance, the 1990s began with a recession. For IKEA, this meant an increased interest in life’s many everydays. Spectacular design was replaced by a more restrained look, and a group of designers were brought in to create a series of simple basic products for the kitchen, to be used all 365 days of the year.

Everything falls apart

Before 1989, production behind the Iron Curtain was a cornerstone of the long-term purchasing strategy at IKEA. Ingvar Kamprad came here back in the 1960s when he was boycotted by furniture makers and the sector as a whole in Sweden. Planned economies like Poland had raw materials at low prices, as well as state-owned factories with great capacity and a need to do business with the West, as eastern currencies could not be used in the West or exchanged for dollars. IKEA made major investments in run-down factories, installed machinery and spare parts, and built up skills. So what happened when the Iron Curtain suddenly fell?

A new compass

In the mid-1990s, IKEA was rocked by accusations of child labour. At the time the company was the world’s largest furniture retailer, with almost 100 stores in 17 countries, and production in 70. As success for IKEA increased, so too did the media’s scrutiny. Revelations of child labour would lead to a new compass – cooperation with UNICEF and Save the Children, and codes of conduct on everything from child labour to environmental impact.

A foul-smelling fiasco New

In the late 1980s the green movement was really taking off, and more and more people were composting their waste at home in the garden. But hardly anyone had ever tried composting indoors – and IKEA wanted to change that.

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An inflatable story

In the mid-1990s, Swedish furniture designer Jan Dranger came to IKEA with a revolutionary suggestion. He thought he had the solution to one of Ingvar Kamprad’s biggest challenges: how to pack sofas and easy chairs into flat packs.

IKEA PS collection

In the early 1990s, IKEA began a process to strengthen its identity as a design company. IKEA wanted to get back to its roots and manifest the aesthetic of Scandinavian simplicity. The result was IKEA PS, a recurring collection of innovative design at low prices.

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IKEA PS 1995 brochure

Browse the catalogue for the very first IKEA PS collection, launched in 1995 in Milan, under the theme of Democratic Design. The collection represented a renewal of the Scandinavian design tradition, and the launch was a huge success.

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STOCKHOLM 1990 brochure

Five years after the first IKEA STOCKHOLM collection, a broader, updated collection came along: “More beautiful everyday”, which also included a coordinated textile and wallpaper collection, as well as glasses, crockery and cutlery. A further two designers, Ehlén Johansson and Agneta Svensk, now worked on the collection, which was still characterised by the classic Scandinavian theme with cautious continental influences.

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STOCKHOLM 1996 brochure

Browse the folder for the IKEA STOCKHOLM collection 1996, “Lasting beauty”. More designers had now become involved, and took inspiration from Scandinavian ideals, neat shapes and light Nordic wood. All parts of the products in the collection were of high quality in design, materials and attention to detail.

Product stories 2000s

Life at home 2000s

2000s IKEA catalogues

The digital ’00s

An era of new challenges and innovation for the world and for IKEA. The climate crisis climbs high on the global agenda, and the digital revolution changes everything.

Small space living

In the age of urbanisation, more and more people are living in less and less space. IKEA has been working with small space living for a long time, but now it’s more important than ever. Explore how IKEA works to create a better life at home for people living in small spaces. Also, find out how a furniture retailer thinks around doing the most with the least.

A dinner conversation about IKEA Food

Three IKEA Food veterans meet over hot dogs, plant balls and other yummy IKEA classics. Jan Kjellman, Miriam Swärdh and Michael La Cour talk about the past, present and future – sharing stories about everything from the first IKEA restaurant in 1960, to the Swedish food market and food becoming an integral part of the IKEA identity.

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Retail revival in Japan

By the turn of the millennium, it had been almost 20 years since IKEA made its first failed attempt to set up business in Japan. The embarrassing retreat of 1986 was still fresh in the collective IKEA memory, so the return was handled with great care and humility.

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STOCKHOLM 2006 brochure

Super materials, but far from super expensive. Browse the brochure for the IKEA STOCKHOLM collection 2006, with innovative design in super quality. This collection was distinguished by an innovative profile rather than its adherence to traditions. Textile and glass with strong accent colours in pink, purple, red and green contrasted with furniture in dark oak. In the meeting between leather, cowhide, velvet and mohair was a bolder attitude than in previous collections.

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STOCKHOLM 2008 brochure

Browse the brochure for the IKEA STOCKHOLM collection 2008 that was primarily an update of the collection from 2006. The textiles were given new colour constellations and were complemented by rugs in graphic patterns, and richly patterned fabrics sold by the metre, as well as boldly colourful glassware.

Trends? What trends?

Does IKEA care about trends? Yes and no. Of course, IKEA wants to be curious and reflect the times, but fundamental needs are always more important than temporary trends. “We believe that timeless furniture is more sustainable in the long run,” says Mats Nilsson at IKEA.

Always together

When IKEA describes its culture, the terms together and togetherness are virtually always front and centre. And it’s not just co-workers who are invited to be part of that togetherness, but also very much customers and suppliers. In fact, you could say that without togetherness, there would be no IKEA.

Social initiatives

Involvement in philanthropic causes at IKEA can be traced back to the 1950s, when Ingvar Kamprad’s mother Berta fell ill with cancer, and Ingvar started a fund for cancer research. Later on, more funds and foundations were set up for everything from good design and children’s rights, to the climate and well-being for the elderly. What all these things have in common is a vision to create a better everyday life for the many people.

Product stories 2010s

Life at home 2010s

2010s IKEA catalogues

The chaotic ’10s

In a world of urbanisation and housing shortages, financial worries and rising nationalism, IKEA intensifies its efforts to contribute to global sustainability for people and planet.