One of the gifts I gave myself this Christmas was a side trip to IKEA. The smaller stores are still fun and a destination choice, but I chose one of the largest and busiest stores in Canada, and that coupled with a delayed flight meant I was skidding around, using all the shortcuts and madly checking things off my list. It was a bit like the Keystone Cops, but I achieved most of my goals.
My major reason for visiting IKEA is getting a sense of trends to inspire my work. In some respects IKEA is such a world force that they lead fashion, but they also have an amazing team of designers who are well versed on trends and reqirements within their customer base. So some of my research for 2019 is based on what IKEA has spent millions to analyse.
Vintage IKEA demonstrates that they used to build heavier, more upmarket items, then they jumped on the cheap and simple bandwagon, but in the last few years they have brought back sturdy (and expensive) designs so they now have two streams. Sadly the basic furniture still looks good but the quality is terrible. The upper 15% is what we need to study.
IKEA is now hiring big names in the artistic community to design signature pieces and though somewhat left field these pieces are exciting and fresh.
Trend I
Comfort. Buyers are getting sentimental about their home environment. As baby boomers age they are downsizing and wanting comfort. They hanker for that big overstuffed easy chair of their father, but they want quality and natural. Young professionals want to escape their intense work envirnment and nest. Real leather, hardwood floors, plush throws and pillows are big.
Trend II
Wood. All kinds of wood are popular, but choices are becoming warmer and lighter. (My light cherry, barnwood flooring is bang on trend.) Be careful with wood on frames, see below.
Trend III
Unique fittings. Stainless is still in there, but is no longer cutting edge. Door handles, pulls, knobs, lighting etc are going from minimalist to eye-catching. Gold (yup) leather, unique texture. Lots of style. This trend is also happening in frames: Contemporary frames are not fashionable, but frames work if integrated with the art. Think driftwood, leather, mixed media.
Trend IV
Vintage, or vintage-like with bold geometrics of the 60s and 70s and curves of the 50s.
Trend V
Color is still natural tones, but with pops of soft blends. Cool is hot. The big pop at IKEA is turquoise/grey, which is a mid to deep toned soft blue/grey. I’m seeing this color all over the place at the moment. Kitchens, soft furnishings and of course artwork. Distressed is still trending but in a softer, less obvious way.
I hope this helps in making choices for your art this year. I think you will see most of these ideas reflected in mine. If you’re wondering about the image above, it was taken on my flight to Vancouver and I would dearly love to find time to paint it this month. Here’s hoping!
In memory of Ingvar Kamprad, founder of IKEA, who passed away 27th January 2018 aged 91.
If you’re curious about the history of IKEA click here
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