Glory Days Part Two
Hello and thank you for tuning in today. We are picking up with part two of the Ikea catalog series, looking at the years 1990 through 2022, and if you haven’t listened to part one of the series, looking at 1950 through 1989, please do give that a listen.
Next week will kick off Soft Landing’s Summer Break, so for the remainder of August and the first three weeks of September, there will be no new episodes, but this is a great time for you to go back through the show’s 100 episodes and re-listen to your favorites. We will resume regularly scheduled programming on Wednesday, September 21st. That’s in one month, and I will miss you. But for now, let’s talk about Ikea’s catalog.
It is so much fun to see the waxing and waning of trends through out modern history for furniture, interiors, color, and attitude. Plus, there’s just a great sense of nostalgia. We are reviewing three decades of trends, using the website Ikeamuseum.com, which has a full archive library of every Ikea catalog from 1950 through today. I would recommend looking up milestone years for yourself. Maybe not the year you were born, but I found the year I graduated high school to bring back a ton of memories.
As with all of our trend analysis episodes, you’ll notice trends come, go, and come back again. Of course, there are always little tweaks with each new trend wave. Adjustments for technology and new variations, but so much of why I like to look at trends with you, is to emphasize that the consumerism aspect of interior design, the idea of what’s in and what’s out, is subjective and always changing. We can watch these trends go by like the wind, and as long as we have a true sense of our own personal style, there’s no need to panic every time something new comes on to the scene. Or you can ride the trends like waves and enjoy them for their momentary spectacle. Either way, let’s dive in.
Oh but first, how could I forget, let’s talk about the color of the week. I love cooking with seasonal vegetables and right now, we are completely in the middle of Zucchini season. These water dense veggies have a gorgeous green outer layer and this rich color can be celebrated in your home by using Sherwin Williams Isle of Pines SW6461. This deep, serious green brings a collegiate sensibility with it, so it’s perfect for creating a scholarly space, but it also looks stunning on kitchen cabinets. Try bringing in a little balance to this bookish number by pairing it with blushes, golds, and pale grays. It will have you feeling steady on your feet in no time.
The 1990 catalog has some real jewels in it. There’s the “Gotland” sofa collection, a thin, low seat on a light wood base, displayed in thick black and white stripped upholstery. It’s shown in a room with a black and red checked flooring. It’s as thought the Beetlejuice/ Tim Burton aesthetic has made its way to mainstream catalog furniture. The only thing missing is some ghoulish creatures and a post-modern sculpture. As I’ve mentioned in the episode Day-O, where we look at the portrayal of Beetlejuice’s resident interior decorator Otho, the design movement known as Post-Modernism is a critical component to this look. Blocky, simplified shapes, bold, graphic patterns, primary colors, and lots of black and white. This style is present in the “Loshult” Chair too, with its upholstered, wheel shaped arms, and just a hint of Art Nouveau styling. It looks like we caught it mid flight.
Black leather upholstery and black storage are on almost every page, and if you were around in the 1990’s, you know that it was hard to go a full day without seeing a black sofa somewhere. Maybe it was it’s practicality or austerity, but it certainly fit in the with Gen X, grunge ethos of the time. There are items like “Kalmar” Lounge chair, with its wrapped arm detail and bunchy, linear tufting. It’s so incredibly informal. And, we’ve gone from all white room scenes in the 80’s to almost completely black ones by the early 90’s. But we also have a full page of glass coffee tables to provide a little lightness into the mix. Whether the legs are wood, metal, or even marble, glass topped coffee tables were the style statement of the 1990’s living room.
Speaking of simple shapes, the “Mella” sectional sofa is one of the most avant grade looking pieces of upholstery in the catalog so far. With its circular seat and back, each section locks into the next, looking almost like individual vertebra. It’s unique and flexible, for sure, but it doesn’t exactly look comfortable. If you owned one of these, let me know, I’m so curious about the sit on this piece, and it was only around for a year so, that’s kind of telling.
A real show stopper is the “Teg” comforter and the “Seim” headboard, which utilize the same peach and lavender abstract organic print. With coordinating channel tufting, it’s clearly what every mid-market hotel based their rooms on for the next 30 years.
There is an absolutely incredible layout on pages 20 and 21 of the 1992 edition that show the simple shape play of Post-Modernism at its best. First, there’s a round dining plate with a faux burl wood rim, with matching flat ware on the opposite side - a silver fork, knife, and spoon with faux wood handles. I would pay top dollar for a set like this today, so chic. Below the plate is a lipstick red super-square leather sofa, an area rug with floating black outlines of arches and swirls, a lounge chair that seems to be “referencing” the Le Corbusier lounger that’s so popular, and a jet black shelf called “Kavat” that consists of two giant upside down wire triangles that double as legs and supports. If you don’t feel like you know what people mean when they use the term post-modern, turn to pages 20 and 21 please! This is no longer PeeWee’s playhouse, we have entered the world of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. Restrained, intentional, and structural.
We see our first human in the composed room scenes since the early 80’s, plus a basset hound for good measure, as the scenes stop feeling so contrived and more relatable in their details. This is important, and we’ll see more of it later.
1993’s issue draws a line in the sand - no more dark and shadowy rooms, no more person-free photoshoots. It’s as though vibrancy and homeyness have been brought back to life in the pages of the Ikea catalog. Light fixtures are shown turned on, the sun still shines in through windows for a dramatic angular lighting effect, but the general light of all the rooms and every product in them is brighter. Sunshine yellow is everywhere, along with terra cotta, sage green, and other secondary colors. The primary red/blue/yellow brights have been moved to the back of the catalog, and warm earth tones are the new bombshell in town. Even the black sofas are playing second fiddle to the warm grounding colors that have made their way into the trend world. We also see our first CD tower, which for those of you who may not have been around, or don’t remember, music used to be played on these things called compact disks or CD’s, and each album came on a CD inside a square plastic case. Everyone would display their music collections in these huge vertical stacks, and you would buy a skinny shelf with little ledges for each cd to sit on. They were very ugly, but everyone was so into the cool technology of CD’s that we thought it looked awesome.
Plaids have entered the catalog and they are everywhere, in all different colors and scales. Not to mention lots of other small patterns like black and white graphic florals, checks, starbursts, and gingham. This also matches up with the early 90’s grunge aesthetic - so much plaid flannel, now you can blend right in with your sofa. 1995’s images take a slight step back to the darkly lit way’s of the 80’s. But this time, the images more natural, and less like a spot light shining through on a sound stage. Everything feels grittier, from the imperfect artist’s loft scene to the carless stacks of books on the floor. There’s even a sofa, the “Tacka”, that intentionally looks as though it’s completely draped in a patterned blanket, or “soffdrapering” as it is called in the catalogue. A lofted wood bed with a desk below appears. Everything feels inspired by life as a young adult, the college experience in its realness, rather than happy family life, which is what we see in almost every other year’s round-up.
And then, seemingly out of no one, or really out of a Guns-N-Roses videos, there’s a four post bed draped in white sheers. It feels like Stephanie Seymour must be right around the corner.
One interesting thing I’ve recognized as a pattern, is the trend from the previous few seasons, will make its way out of the front pages of the book and into the children’s furniture section. For instance, in 1995’s catalog, the black-and-white striped Tim Burton aesthetic is clearly tired, but it shows up in tiny kid’s lounge chairs, with stuffed animal snakes for emphasis. Before that, the red/blue/yellow vibes were no longer showing up in any living room furniture, but there were full sets of kids primary colored bedrooms. This is likely a clever and efficient way to use up left over materials. This process of trend hand-me-downs for the littles is maybe another way of saying we aren’t 100% ready to let this look go, but we certainly can’t be putting it on the front cover anymore.
In 1996, there is more medium-toned wood than ever before, and much of the colors and patterning feel connected to the American Southwest. There’s so much off-white and beige, clay tiled floors, wood burning fire places, wicker, and rattan. There’s even jewel toned stain wood. Blue headboards, and green dressers that have bold saturation, but still allow the grain of the wood to clearly be seen.
We can see Post-Modernism in its final stage in the 1998 issue. If you're not familiar with architect Michael Grave’s work as an industrial designer, specifically in partnership with a company called Alessi, you can find very similar pieces on pages 12-13. Once again, everything has returned to pure white and natural light-colored wood. Of course, as many would say, so we can appreciate the true forms. The one exception to this is the purple guitar pic shaped analog clock. The shapes and pieces are chunky, as if they are Lego caricatures of themselves. There is the “Nartorp” maple shelving unit on awkward set of four silver legs, with downlit glass shelves, housing only white bowls, and a white lounge chair that is so striped of detail, it looks like it might not even be finished in the assembly line, but it is. Clearly, much of the playfulness of the early 80’s has been drained from the Post-Modernist movement, and simplicity is the driving factor. As if the maximalism and even the grunge periods we’ve just been through have pushed the aesthetics into needing a cleanse period, where color and pattern all feel like just a little too much.
But of course, if we have no color, and no pattern, things get boring. Enter metallics. What’s now being referred to as the Y2K era, or as we used to call them, the early 2000’s, brought an endless wave of lamé, silver, platinum, nickel, aluminum, and occasionally gold. If you didn’t own a wide variety of metallic fashion accessories in 2005, where you even living? Ikea was on board with this trend, and much of it only requires the basic styling of their existing inventory. We see a classically shaped adjustable silver desk lamp, a tubular steel silver desk on wheels, metal coat hooks, and a classic aluminum trash can, with ribbed sides and a handled lid. A new item is the “Opalla” chair, a bent tubular steel, light weight lounge piece with silver plastic canvas stretched across it. I had two of these in my living room at one point and I loved how surprisingly comfortable they were, plus having silver fabric in my home felt very of the moment.
Apart from that, we see mostly neutral colors, with the occasional safe splash of red or blue. Most of the furniture shapes are clean, but referential to traditional forms, otherwise known as Transitional, which we talk about more in the episode “The Time Warp.” There’s some gingham and plaid throw pillows, but mostly everything else is a solid color. This allergy to color extends on into 2001, with a record 13 pages in a row of all white rooms at the very beginning of the book. These spaces feel serene and heavenly, but also a little cold.
There is a dedicated page to the color green, but it’s almost all tiny accessories - vases, throw pillows, CD holders, chopsticks. When used individually in a home, these would barely make a peep. Whereas, there is another page dedicated to all things grey, that includes shelving, a lounge chair, curtains, and other more substantial pieces for the home. While color is hard to find, Ikea is by no means projecting an image of perfection. We see a dining room table with multiple generations of a family sitting around it, and a hodge-podge collection of chairs, feeling makeshift, and easy. This is the first time we’ve seen a mixed dining set in the catalog, rather than matching chairs all around a table. This narrative carries along through out the 2000’s - simple, clean, efficient homes for your busy, messy, beautiful life. In fact, styles seem to get stripped down further and further towards a new level of minimalism. We see storage units with touch latch hardware that removes the need for any kind of handle, leaving behind flat white glossy panels.
Minimalism becomes such an important narrative that we even see the resurgence of the Saarinen style tulip base for tables momentarily. Series such as the Pax wardrobe and Malm bedroom sets present flat, cantilevered shapes, and clearly reference the modern movements of the 1960’s, but with cleaned up details.
There’s also a shift away from the living room as the focus of the catalog. The kitchen and dining room become front and center. There are so many more cabinet styles to choose from, and Ikea is not only offering tons of plates, bowls, and dishes, but they also have cookware, knives, and Tupperware. There’s a huge focus on dining room tables, and that results in the creation of the “Fusion” four seater table. This dining set is clad in walnut laminate, and each chair has a bent plywood back allowing them to neatly tuck right under the table and create a compact cube shape when not in use. I miss this item, especially when I have clients in tiny apartments who want to squeeze a table into their non-existent dining room here in New York, this was such a perfect and affordable option, but it only stuck around a few years.
Pattern and color make their way back slowly towards the mid to late 2000’s. We see hyper old fashioned wrought iron headboards, dining tables with sculpted turned legs, but it’s all used in a mismatched, playful way that feels more like we’ve walked into the odds and ends of an antique shop. This is still mixed in with the hyper modern pieces and while a sense of balance is restored, the point of view seems a little lost. There’s plenty to choose from, but it feels like in the store’s effort to please everyone, their identity has been softened.
By 2009, color, print, pattern, and vibrancy have repositioned themselves in the selections, with bold botanical sofas, and even a large flower print on the inside of an open shelf. Then just a year later, the catalog reaches a true professional era. The photographs of staged room scenes are intricate, elaborate, and interesting to gloss through. One room has classic wood wall panelling and detailed columns, another has a chalkboard wall scribbled all over with a rainbow of colors. The rooms are brightly lit, no darkness to be found. The bold black and white strip is back, but so is paisley, plaid, and polka dot. Everything is layered and mismatched in Y2K Maximalist way. The overarching vibe is casual - even in the more formal set ups - nothing looks too fussy, everything is lived in and even messy in a stylized way. Throw blankets are draped haphazardly over sofas, storage boxes lay on the floor with their lids crooked, shelves look slightly over crowded with knick knacks. There’s a true sense of coziness baked into every page and more importantly, a relatability. The look and feel is much less aspirational and more like it’s almost already your home, you just need a few things to jazz it up. Very compelling.
It’s worth noting that the size of the catalog continues to grow. I mentioned last time that the first printing in 1950 was 15 pages. 2010’s issue clocks in at 370 pages, not including some of the indexes and other riff riff at the very end. And according the Genus Book of World Records, the 2011 catalog is the record holder for most read catalog of all time. There were over 208 million copies printed, mailed out, and left on coffee tables, in over 30 languages and 41 countries. And the 2011 catalogue in so many ways has the same ethos as 2010, but the photography quality just keeps getting better. The lived-in situations show big families having normal, active lives, making meals, and laughing. Some of the pictures are almost pure portraits.
We aren’t seeing a great amount of new product here, it’s just styling and tone of voice that’s getting updated and modified. There might be new colors of coffee tables and patterns of upholstery, but we’re seeing the staples of their line - “Karlstad” sofa, which has consistently been one of the most affordable sofa’s around, the “Poang” chair in its handful of sizes and styles, the “Lack” tables, the “Expedit” storage modules, and so on. It’s all been shown to us again and again, but each year there’s a new color, and handful of new pieces, but ultimately it’s the stylized photography that has that hook, that shows us what an easy life you can live with a full house of Ikea furniture. It’s genius.
In 2013, one thing that really stands out is a featured dresser, the wood “Tarva” dresser, and it has been completely covered in spray paint. I’m not going to call it graffiti, but it’s certainly wishing it was, and I think this is a little nod to the subculture of Ikea Hacking that starting in the mid 2000’s. I know for a fact that there are many modifications Ikea will discourage you from doing, like cutting things up or messing with any of the attachments, but a little paint never hurt anyone, so it’s cool to see this embracing of the idea that many of these plain blonde wood pieces are blank slates for creativity and customization.
By the middle of the 2010s, the Maximalism is falling away. We're seeing more restraint in the way rooms are accessorized and then Bam. By the middle of the decade we are seeing the farmhouse trend start to take over. We see a white ceramic farmhouse sink in an IKEA kitchen for the first time, and wall paneling is everywhere, along with more wrought iron headboards, and lots of cooking and homemaking. But by the end of the decade, this has all been replaced with cleaner lines and a surprising resurgence of pastels mixed with earth tones, which we haven’t really scene together before. Many of the pieces’ shapes are referring to mid-century modern forms, but with cleaner details - like the “Vedbo” lounge with it’s light wood frame and womb like upholstery floating inside it. There’s a new variation of the “Lack” side table that looks like something straight out of Post-Modernism, with faux white mosaic tiles, creating a black grid. Get Tim Burton on the phone asap! There’s also a resurgence of rattan from the 70’s, and while these pieces feel soulful and curated after an era of dullness followed by meandering maximalism, after looking through the catalog’s history, we know it’s nothing Ikea hasn’t shown us before.
It’s at this point as well where we start seeing an endless amount of house plants, whole rooms looking like greenhouses, rather than just one or two. This is important for Ikea’s big next step.
The catalogs for 2020 and 2021 are mix of a few things - light white scenes, dark moody earth tones, and active family scenes mixed with cleaner, quiet ones. As of 2022, Ikea announced its print catalog would be no more, which is a major end of an era. But it’s no surprise, as it’s said that print is a dying media. And fear not, there are multiple brochures available on their website. As of right now there is an amazing collection of images that help you visualize planning any outdoor space from a balcony to a full fledged party patio, all to celebrate the company’s new outdoor dining sets. Spending more time in our own outdoor spaces has become a priority for so many. It reconnects us with nature and no need to drive for fly anywhere. Conversely, Ikea also has an entire section dedicated to “gaming furniture” including desk set ups and task chairs with robust neck supports. This is a sign that Ikea understands how to roll with the punches and change with the times as needed, as they’ve done for decades prior. Even though I have little sadness in my heart for the end of the printed catalog, I love the tactile nature of physical print, but 208 Million copies of a 300 page catalog is a lot of paper and ink, and the idea of saving those resources makes me feel good. Plus the full archive is now available to anyone at anytime. So, what was your favorite Ikea year? There’s something about the Y2K era that makes me so happy, but I love seeing the 60’s minimalism too. I hope you enjoy the next month, please take incredible care of yourself, and I will talk to you in the next episode.
