Trend spotting with IKEA at Democratic Design Day

We can’t wait for IKEA’s 2016 catalogue to hit the stores, so you can see what the Swedish lifestyle retailer has to offer. From what we experienced at Democratic Design Day, May 12 in Almhult, Sweden, IKEA’s selling a lifestyle now, and not just furniture and furnishings…and Swedish food. And we like it!

As a preview, we share what IKEA’s design manager Marcus Engman spoke about when he discussed Trends in Life at Home and Future Design. He doesn’t like the word “trend”, though, so what Marcus shared was what IKEA is curious about (i.e. what drives its designs):

1. The fluid home — the home of the future will have activity-based, or multi-tasking spaces, i.e. the same room is used for sleep, eat, play, etc. This means furniture that adapts to different uses.

2. Sensory sensations

3. Mass-produced uniqueness — furniture systems you can customise so that you have a piece that nobody else has. Also, craft imperfections that make items like glass and finishes like glazing be one-of-a-kind.

4. Smarter yet more human things — wireless charging tabletops! An IKEA smart bicycle! Can you tell how excited we are about these innovations. In terms of humanness, there’s also collaborations with fashion designers like Katie Eary, Walter Van Beirendonck and Martin Bergstrom+NIFT.

5. Designing with an open mind

Here are some images to illustrate. Watch out for our July-August issue to read more about IKEA’s democratic designs.

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