You don’t need navigation or a map when in Stockholm. Yes, it sounds counter-intuitive to our routine patterns of travelling, but the capital city of Sweden, is simply a fascinating puzzle of many islands that let you freely discover its layers however you choose to drift around. Its moody colours, generous nature, breezy riverfronts, historic streetscapes and architectural facades that seem to stroke the skyline — a lot is tucked into Stockholm’s moodboard of culture and life. Indeed, the weight of history and romanticism is a non-negotiable quality of this city. A quality I witnessed in-person at the momentous launch of STOCKHOLM 2025 collection by IKEA, a brand that has stood vanguard as Sweden’s modern cultural history for decades. This is their largest collection yet with close to 100 pieces of elevated home essentials that surpass the idea of ordinary; a collection that brings the numerous picturesque details of Stockholm itself to your home, wherever in the world you are.
First launched in the 1980s by founder Ingvar Kamprad, the new STOCKHOLM collection typifies the rebirth of an ever-evolving assembly of furniture, furnishing, lighting, tableware and home accents. A collection centred for an evolving, globally-versed homeowner, Kamprad once dubbed this series as “The best of IKEA.” Furniture nearly becomes a sensorial indulgence — to plunge, sit, curl up and gaze at the materials and colours that make it.
“We worked closely with master weavers in India, where each rug takes days to complete and blends multiple weaving methods into a single piece.” — Paulin Machado, in-house designer at IKEA