IKEA Museum Will Open in Sweden This Month

If you’re a fan of Swedish design—or Swedish meatballs—you might want to check out the new IKEA Museum in Älmhult, Sweden. The Guardian reports that the famed furniture company and purveyor of cheap and delicious Swedish cuisine is opening a new museum and restaurant celebrating its own history on June 30.

Founded in 1943 by Ingvar Kamprad, IKEA began selling furniture in 1948 and opened its first store in 1958, The Telegraph reports. The new IKEA museum—located on the site of IKEA's first store—will document important moments throughout the company’s history. It will also, according to The Guardian, shine a spotlight on some of the company’s most notable failures, like the time the company dabbled in inflatable furniture for adults, or, more disturbingly, the time Kamprad dabbled with fascism.

But the main focus of the museum is on the history of design. The museum meticulously recreates furniture sets from IKEA stores and catalogues, giving visitors a sense of what their local IKEA store would have looked like in decades past. There are straight-backed wooden chairs from the 1950s, psychedelic floral pillows from the 1970s, and black leather sofas from the 1980s, as well as raw materials used to build their iconic furniture, like pine, steel, and particleboard.

The museum website explains, “We share everything that makes IKEA what it is today, and what it may be tomorrow: the ideas and the driving forces, the people and the furniture, the mistakes and the lessons learned.”

[h/t The Guardian]

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