Ikea Furniture Designed for Small Spaces
Dedicating its latest designer-made collection PS 2014 to a young, on-the-move, urban crowd, Ikea has tapped into a vast audience looking for well-designed but affordable modern furniture. The Swedish retail giant approached a cast of diverse international designers to collaborate on the range of furniture and home accessories, including Matali Crasset, Rich Brilliant Willing, Scholten & Baijings, Tomas Alonso, and up-and-coming Danish textile designer Margrethe Odgaard. Dwell stopped by the media preview (see a sneak peek of the $99 corner cabinet and $129 flatweave rug on Dwell's Instagram) to pick out the best pieces from the new collection, appearing in stores in April 2014.
French designer Matali Crasset's wardrobe for Ikea PS 2014 ($179) is an open piece that comes with dozens of colorful tabs that can be arranged and rearranged on the metal mesh front. Crasset describes it as "free from codes—due to its camouflage it adapts to any kind of home."
For more Matali Crasset, check out the farmhouse she renovated which Dwell featured in our March 2014 issue.
Another interesting facet to Ikea's PS 2014 collection is a related survey they conducted of people ages 18 to 60 who are living in cities in Sweden, the United States, France, Great Britain, Poland, Japan, China, and Qatar. Examining the data mined from young participants (ages 18 to 29), the company collated the following results about how people live in cities today [PDF].
Tomás Alonso's highly adaptable wood wall system was inspired by the kamoi, a wooden rail that runs around the perimeter of the rooms in traditional Japanese houses. Wall rail ($4.99), tray ($9.99), and mirror ($12.99).
Japanese designer Keiji Ashizawa says of his leaning wall shelf ($49.99), "With my furniture, you can enjoy small spaces, make good use of corners, and keep things organized at the same time.”
Danish textile designer Margrethe Odgaard's duvet cover set ($49.99 for three pieces) is paired with Rich Brilliant Willing's indoor/outdoor LED stool lamp ($69.99).
A trio of Polish designers—Krystian Kowalski, Maja Ganszyniec, and Paweł Jasiewicz—came up with this secretary ($189), which allows for a flexible workspace within a small apartment or hallway.
Mathias Hahn's folding table and bench ($129 and $75) are suitable for indoor and outdoor use. Hahn describes it as "visually refined and reduced to a minimum due to a smart but simple folding mechanism."
Margrethe Odgaard says of her Ikea PS 2014 mirror, “I was inspired by traveling in Eastern Europe, where I found rural homes with walls covered with textiles, floors with painted tiles, and mirrors decorated with stained glass foil. The carefully structured decorations inspired me to make a grid, in which I could use various lines and colors to create different patterns."
Scholten & Baijings's graphic posters ($14.99) are hung above Anna Efverlund's kick sled-inspired bench ($99.99).
“The IKEA PS 2014 greenhouse ($29.99) was inspired by the alpine chalets of my Swiss homeland," says designer Nicolas Cortolezzis, "a symbol of simplicity and harmony with nature. It can fit on the balcony, in the kitchen or next to the window. It can stand on a table or be hung on the wall."
Henrik Preutz designed his balancing bench ($49.99) to encourage play and movement in children: "They can balance on it, jump over it, crawl under it."
Ebba Strandmark's delightful corner easy chair (price TBD) will be available in August 2014. Ideal for small spaces, it "embraces you like an armchair and gives you the comfort of a sofa. Somewhere to snuggle into that uses an otherwise wasted corner.”
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