Before talking about IKEA the Book: Designers, Products and Other Stuff
I guess my deep aversion to design has something to with the prices they come at. What is designer, would usually cost my half year’s salary. And with that kind of money I could actually travel to Antarctica, you get the drift, that is where I come from.
Well, Ikea the Book changed that perception. I wonder why I didn’t think of style or design in terms of functional and reasonably priced! I have now finished reading the book which has about 384 pages. But it is still a fast read. A lot of pages showcase the designs of Ikea through the ages. Maybe that is why it is a fast read. It has many pages that are ‘look’ rather than ‘read’ pages.
The author, Staffan Bengtsson interviews many Ikea designers like Noboru Nakamura, Maria Vinka and Lennart Ekmark among others. There is an interview with founder Ingvar Kamprad as well. The passion of Ikea for accessible design or what they call ‘better everyday life for many’ shines through.
As Ikea do not have any stores in India yet, I am not really familiar with their products other than two that they gave to me. One is the Stolle Dala Horse and other the Lykta table lamp which is made in India. My daughter plays with the horse and my brother-in-law Amrit is using the lamp. I can’t say much about Chhavi as she is more interested in dropping the horse and scratching it to see if it can withstand all that, my brother-in-law is surely enjoying the lamp.
I actually would have not written about the products if I did not read the book. I would credit Ikea the Book for igniting an initial spark for affordable design in me.
PS. I was invited as an academic by Ikea India to attend Ikea + India 2025, an event held at 4 Points by Sheraton. The book, table lamp and the horse were Ikea’s way of saying thank you for my time. I told them that if they ever needed people to gate crash I would make time.
I have used IKEA products and can vouch for them any day. They are very popular abroad and am glad that they are coming to India.
Thanks for giving this good news. 🙂
Thank you so much Nisha for sharing your thoughts 😀
I have a friend who use to bring only Ikea products from US whenever coming back and his whole house is full of Ikea stuff. But I like the fact that there designs are simple and elegant…
Thank you Prasad. Waiting to enter a store myself.
🙂 I also really like IKEA products and also privileged to know some of it designers as well. Btw I should have also helped in changing your perception of design from what I do for a living 🙂 🙂
Siddhartha you only mentioned design in the passing, we only talked about travel! 😛
A very informative post.
I haven’t used these products yet.
Indrani Hyderabad or Bangalore may get the first store! 😀
🙂 Sair kar Duniya ki Galib … 🙂
😀 Those are lovely lines, at least to me 😛
I have used IKEA products here in Swiss and have fixed them myself, I am amazed the way them make assembling simple furniture pieces a breeze. They have food products too here and they too are simply delicious. I wish Ikea India all the best. Nice post Mridula.
Thank you for letting me know what I can look forward to 😀
Haven’t use the products yet…but your post and the comments above sound interesting . Nice to know that they’re coming to India… 🙂
Me too, waiting for them to open a store in India!
Love Ikea’s designs and how affordable their products are! Their furniture might not be the greatest of quality… but in that price they do give you value for money.
Chaitali waiting for a store to open!
Nice to read your post 🙂
Thank you Rupam.