Escape From Reality Through 70 Years of IKEA Catalogs
If you’ve got a few weekends over the holidays and you’ve already watched all of your shows and your brain is open to looking at things but not reading reading, we have a suggestion that we think you might like. Yes, IKEA catalogs are 70 years old.
If that alone isn’t enough to convince you that this is the perfect way to mentally escape the couch in 2020 and into a stylish home in mid-century Sweden, there are other reasons to admire this treasure too .
For example, if you enjoy scrolling through Instagram accounts like Cheap Old Houses or Vintage Bath Love , you probably already ran out of new posts. Catalogs can be seen as another way to learn about decor and furniture from the second half of the 20th century. (And to learn more about the catalog collection, read this article from CityLab. )
Or maybe you’re about to do some renovations or redecoration yourself this winter if you get stuck at home again. Well, don’t look for design inspiration. But unlike real websites, you can flip through most of them without risking getting overly enthusiastic and buying a lot more than you can actually afford. Now that you’re on board, this is how you can access the previous IKEA catalog of catalogs.
How to access old IKEA catalogs
To enjoy 19,000 pages of design history, visit the IKEA Museum website . Swedish is the default language, so you can switch it to English. On the other hand, it only translates the text on the website, not the directories themselves, so this is not necessary. From there, go to whatever your heart desires.
Top tip: While 1950s catalogs are definitely interesting, their format is more similar to the early Sears catalogs , where the pages contained listings of various products. A more modern version, incorporating entire rooms with furniture and other décor, began in the 1960s. (Image above is from 1973 catalog ).
Click the cover of the catalog you want to view, and then click again after the page has loaded. A new window will open with options to help you navigate the Scandinavian design trends this particular year. Enjoy!