1950s onwards- Ikea through the ages- IKEA museum tour... blog so quite conversation (but you get the idea!)

http://www.styleathome.com/blog/2009/06/09/bretts-adventures-in-ikealand-ikea-museum/

http://www.styleathome.com/blog/2009/06/10/ikea-through-the-ages-museum-part-two/

http://www.styleathome.com/blog/2009/06/10/ikea-through-the-ages-museum-part-three/

IKEA museum: http://www.ikeainalmhult.com/visiting-ikea/

The gorgeously grained Lovet sidetable from 1956 was a first for IKEA — a flat-packed piece of furniture (in a box tied up with string — so sweet!) that could be assembled easily at home. I think IKEA should reintroduce this one… Absolutely stunning.

 

 

A flip through the IKEA Catalogue in 1954 would have shown living room furnishings like the Royal sofa and armchair, the Mary dining chairs and Jerez Wilton carpet. I love the ducks on the wall — such an authentic 50s touch! 

 

 

Retro-fabulous wallpaper and austere shapes define this vignette of IKEA pieces from the late 1950s, including the Farstrup sofa and armchairs and Tema bookshelf.

 

 

The early 1960s saw IKEA’s offerings increasingly influenced by the Danish modern design movement (a look that’s more popular than ever in 2009). The Estrad sofa group is 60s-spare at its finest.

And the related dining area…

We’re delving deeper into the swinging 60s, and IKEA’s designs are taking a trippy, Warhol-esque, psychedelic turn. I love the marvelously low-slung Florida sofa (1969), and the satellite armchairs in lemon and orange pack some serious citrus punch…

…Compare those chairs to the Skruvsta swivel armchair, still in IKEA stores to this day! Obviously, the design had staying power!

Skruvsta swivel armchair in Almas Red, $169

 

 

The shag carpet may remain, but the colourway is toned down for the early 1970s, with the introduction of the denim-upholstered Tajt loungers (1973). And I think everyone, at one time or another, has purchased a set of the IKEA’s Bambu bamboo roller blinds, first launched in 1972.

Another angle…

 

 

A little further along, I came across something that very nearly blew my mind… I mean, who knew that in the 70s, IKEA was also your source for… Organs?!? Delightfully bonkers! It’s easy to forget that pianos were staples in many homes at the time, and electronic organs were an exciting new development — the iPod to the piano’s Discman, I suppose.

I’ll take you from the 80s — the decade of Dynasty, excess and primary brights — through to present day.

Yes, even IKEA designs lived large in the 80s, as witnessed by this poorKlippan sofa (released in 1980, and still available in stores!), which is being strangled by a puffy, sleeping-bag-like quilted red slipcover, circa 1984. 

And here’s the tuxedo-style Klippan, 29 years on — mercifully sans sleeping bag.

Klippan loveseat in Frasig black leather, $599

 

 

1987 saw the release of IKEA’s first Stockholm Collection — furnishings at a slightly higher price-point, and having undergone a curious change of design direction. Certainly not something you’d ever immediately associate with IKEA, this must have shocked a few shoppers back in the day. (A second Stockholm Collection came out in 2006-2007, as you may recall, and it was gorge!)

 

 

…But it’s back to form in the 1990s with that iconic, Swedish simplicity that continues to inform IKEA’s contemporary designs. Light, bright and airy, the Tomelilla sofa andarmchair (1993) in loose fitting white slipcovers are so relaxed and inviting, and theEgeby carpet (1998) has since become a decorating staple. 

 

 

A great experiment began in 1993, with the sale of 18th Century Swedish furniture at IKEA. Based on genuine Gustavian antiques, these were truly works of art. The line was discontinued about five years later… The curator of the museum explained that it was because the line just wasn’t selling enough units (the furnishings tended to be more costly than standard IKEA releases)…

 

And that, ladies and gents, brings us back to the 21st century, and the IKEA that we know and love today. And, of course, the reason I was in Almhult, Sweden, to begin with. Which I still can’t divulge. lol