You can now browse 70 years of IKEA glory in its online library of vintage catalogs
The beloved furniture and home goods brand made all of its annual catalogs since 1950 available online, and boy are there some gems.
We've got some good news for IKEA historians and design junkies: the Swedish furniture and design powerhouse has made more than half a century worth of catalogs available for free online. Welcome to the IKEA museum...
The catalogs span a whopping 72 years, dating back to 1950, and act as a pretty fascinating timeline of modernist design trends.
Cover of an IKEA catalog from the 80s
While there's a lot to unpack from more than 70 years worth of IKEA literature, some catalogs immediately jump out. For instance, this edition from 1969 is pretty catchy...
Unsurprisingly, the mid to late '60s were a particularly experimental time for the brand, which helped popularize and establish a trend toward simple and modern design and grow the company into a behemoth furniture retailer.
An IKEA catalog from the 1960s
$44.6B
In 2018 alone IKEA sold more than $44 billion worth of goods worldwide.
An IKEA catalog from the 1960s
Scenes from the first-ever IKEA catalog are hard to pass up...
An IKEA catalog from the 1950s
It's to say production value has come quite a long way since this initial catalog...
Ikea's 2020 catalog cover photo
If you're like most of us and not encyclopedic in your knowledge of design trends, IKEA's online museum is also a pretty nifty tool for inspiration.
I mean, how else would you know what to do with a shelf like this?
