Ikea's Sources of Inspiration

Hi friends 👋

Welcome to this week’s instalment of The Midmod Corner.

Remember in my recent newsletter, when I talked about how vintage Ikea items are raging at the moment?

Well, I dig into the origins of Ikea's furniture inspiration and made some fascinating discoveries.

Want to know more? Keep reading…

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🗞️ The Story

Throughout the years, Ikea has introduced a lot of models where the influence of other designers is more or less obvious.

During the mid-twentieth century, Ikea's designers and furniture producers didn't shy away from drawing inspiration from existing pieces to craft new ones. Below, we'll explore some of these works where Ikea seemed to draw varying degrees of inspiration from other companies. Can you spot the similarities, or is it just variations in a world where everyone draws inspiration from everyone else?

Pure, simple, and elegant, the #60 stool, designed in 1933 by Alvar Aalto, stands as an industrial design icon. Imitated repeatedly, the original Finnish birch model remains timeless. In Ikea's rendition, the design echoes the early 20th century aesthetic, with birch veneer parts assembled using screws. While nearly identical at first glance, the only discernible difference lies in the thinner seat part of Ikea's version.

While we can discern some subtle distinctions between the two, such as the leather not extending beyond the frame in Ikea's rendition, this one is arguably the most accurately and blatantly imitated design by Ikea. What's even more intriguing is that during auctions, Ikea's vintage Natura chairs can sometimes fetch nearly the same price as vintage Spanish chairs.

First crafted in 1933 by the architect, urban planner, and designer Alvar Aalto, the chair 401 pushes the boundaries of wood from its inception. For instance, the frame of the 401 chair flexes slightly under weight, enhancing the chair's comfort. As for Ikea's imitation version, the Poäng Ikea Series appears nearly identical to the 401 chair at first glance. However, upon closer inspection of the assembly of the various parts (many more in Ikea's case), differences become apparent.

The legs and assembly process of Ikea's version clearly differ from the Rythm table, suggesting more of an inspiration rather than an outright imitation. Interestingly, the Lövet table was the first flat-pack item Ikea ever sold, encouraging consumers to assemble it themselves. Today, the model is produced again by Ikea under the name Lövbacken.

The elegant Elbow chair is a masterpiece of traditional craftsmanship. No wonder why Erik Wörts was inspired by its organic elegance. The two major differences you can notice are that the backrest bend on the Wörts variant is on the upper side, whereas on the Wegner variant, it's on the lower side. Additionally, Wörts' seat is positioned on top of the frame.

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