IKEA'S CHIC NEW PS COLLECTION CALLS BACK TO THE COMPANY'S RICH 60-YEAR DESIGN HISTORY

IKEA PS Collection for 2012 - Pictures of working people by Anna Efverlund - $39-$99 (Click Image To Enlarge)

IKEA TO ITS DESIGNERS: MAKE OUR OLD STUFF BETTER.

Furniture designers don’t often get the chance to correct their mistakes: Their products are on the market for a couple of years and, with few awesomely popular exceptions, eventually get dropped from their manufacturers’ catalogs to make room for new stock. But Ikea, the go-to big box for affordable Scandinavian design, has given its designers the opportunity to revise their work (as well as that of their predecessors), adding increased functionality and sustainability.   Janice Simonsen, Ikea’s design spokesperson, says.

“[We] challenged our designers to bring their designs forward with innovative products that belong in the future.” 

IKEA PS Collection for 2012 - Bamboo dining table by Jon Karlsson - $179 (Click Image To Enlarge)

IKEA PS Collection for 2012 - Bamboo frame side talbes by Henrik Preutz - $29-$49 (Click Image To Enlarge)

IKEA PS Collection for 2012 - Chest of pine wood drawers by Ehlen Johansson - $399 (Click Image To Enlarge)

The results make their debut at the Milan Furniture Fair as part of the company’s PS collection, a curated series released every three years. This time around, the 60-year-old company decided to revisit its past as a way of creating pieces that address today’s needs for more flexible solutions to small spaces: chairs stack, furniture can transition from indoors to outdoors, a children’s table contains built-in storage, and various products have been upgraded using green materials such as bamboo.

IKEA PS Collection for 2012 - High-back armchair by Ebba Strandmark - $89 (Click Image To Enlarge)

IKEA PS Collection for 2012 - Pendant lamp with LED light diodes by Henrik Preutz - $99.99 (Click Image To Enlarge)

IKEA PS Collection for 2012 - Sofa by Nike Karlsson - $899 (Click Image To Enlarge)

Whereas the brother-and-sister design team Knut and Marianne Hagberg reimagined one of their own designs from the ‘80s, turning a children’s foam indoor chair into a plastic, stackable armchair that can also be used outdoors, Nike Karlsson updated a ’70s metal tube sofa with pocket springs, which not only add comfort but are easy to recycle.

IKEA PS Collection for 2012 - Three pot vertical plant stand by Nicolas Cortolezzis - $39.99 (Click Image To Enlarge)

IKEA PS Collection for 2012 - TV bench by Lisa Widen and Anna Wallin Irnarchos - $179 (Click Image To Enlarge)

IKEA PS Collection for 2012 - Armchair made from wood plastic composite - $59.99 (Click Image To Enlarge)

And while the inspiration for these and the rest of the 46-pieces are from the past, they should not be mistaken as being from another era. Peter Klinkert, Ikea’s PS project leader, says in the press announcement. 

“In the design world, it’s sometimes fashionable to talk about vintage and release new products in old styles.  We always said that we don’t want to relaunch old things. It’s not IKEA PS. It’s not new and developing IKEA onward.”

The PS Collection will roll into stores in August.

COMMENTARY:   Ikea's PS Collection is stylish and chick and priced just right for today's contemporary consumers.  I love the sofa an TV stand the most.  If you have a small space, and don't have a lot of money, IKEA is the way to go.

Courtesy of an article dated April 18, 2012 appearing in Fast Company Design

Comments

[Alstair Brook]

Furniture manufactures are more conscious on their manufacturing process and keep no space for mistakes, as mistakes are direct affect to their goodwill. So furniture producers are managing to adopt the policy of recycling and re-manufacturing process to attract their customer from their quality of products.

[Plankegulve EG]

The flooring looks so simple but it really adds beauty in the house.