WHICH IKEA D EC
As it marks 30 years of flat-pack pain ...
IKEA opened in Sweden in 1943 and arrived in Britain 30 years ago, beginning an Irish obsession with heading across the water to pick up a ‘few bits.’ And it’s been seven years since an Irish store opened. Now Ikea has transformed a house to recreate living rooms through the last three decades — with some of your favourite items in them. Here, SARAH RAINEY takes a look at the good, the bad – and the downright bizarre. FROM the Jane Fonda workout video and David Bowie vinyls on the bookcase to My Weekly magazine on the table, this room is unmistakably Eighties: bold prints, clashing colours and statement furniture everywhere.
Consumerism was on the rise in this era and the house-proud wanted to put what they owned on display.
Red was the most popular colour for the iconic Klippan sofa; walls were often painted blue and many items, from rugs to tables, were look-at-me round rather than rectangular. Note the zig-zag shelves; completely impractical, but certainly a talking point.
‘People were very proud of their homes in the Eighties,’ explains Clotilde Passalacqua, Ikea interior design leader. ‘Previously, interior design had been expensive and out of reach. Suddenly, it was affordable. They could buy the things they saw in glossy magazines – striped curtains, bright cushions and trendy table lamps.
‘This was a decade of rebelliousness, of expressing your personality and not caring what other people thought. The same looks you saw in fashion, you saw in people’s homes.’ Bestsellers included glass tables, laminated cabinets, vinyl record racks and leather recliner chairs in bright colours.
In this era, she explains, Ikea was mostly targeted at families who wanted pieces to be durable, rather than just cheap – so price tags were higher than today.
‘People saw furniture as an investment,’ explains Clotilde. ‘They wanted to pass things down, so the focus was on making it affordable yet high quality.’ The Billy bookcase cost €48 in 1987 and was already a hit (today it costs €35 and one is sold every ten seconds). The Lack coffee table was €20 (today it’s €6), while the Klippan sofa cost €335 (now it’s €199). The Eighties room is also a reminder of styles coming back into fashion: the frosted glass table that was so popular in the Eighties is going back on sale in February.