IKEA | America at home

Home is the most important place in the world.


IT'S MORE THAN A ROOF OVER YOUR HEAD What makes a house…a home? It’s really not about the tables and chairs. It’s about the emotional connections with family and friends. How we live, learn, celebrate, and grow in our homes is what marks the special life passages. In these changing times, isn’t it time to rediscover the comfort and joy of living and laughing at HOME! IKEA is dedicated to HOME. We reached out and asked questions. And what we learned is 94% of polled Americans said that Home is the Most Important Place in the World. This finding is at the heart of the IKEA ‘HOME IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PLACE IN THE WORLD’ campaign that includes a compelling documentary film, a landmark study, and the America at Home photo-journalist book of everyday Americans taken by the world’s top photographers. “IKEA believes that home is an emotion, a feeling of security, comfort, and peace,” said Pernille Lopez, president, IKEA North America. “The Home is the Most Important Place in the World campaign isn’t about bricks and mortar, or real estate value. In today’s home market whirlwind, IKEA is focusing on the fact that no matter where you live or its dollar value, HOME is about the emotional connections of family, friends and just daily living ,” added Pernille Lopez.


	"America at Home" Book “IKEA is proud to have served as the sponsor of the America at Home project. At IKEA, we believe that home is the most important place in the world, and this book, and the larger citizen photography event that surrounded it, makes that point vividly. As these images teach us again and again, a home is not the walls, floors, or even the furnishings; it’s the people who live in it and the experiences they share.” - Pernille Spiers-Lopez, President IKEA North America In the IKEA sponsored book, "AMERICA AT HOME," (by award-winning photographers, Rick Smolan and Jennifer Erwitt), there are pages of photos capturing the many meaningful and extraordinary moments of Americans at Home. Inspired by IKEA’s dedication to HOME, this photojournalistic journey showcases the extraordinary, the joy, the humor and the challenging moments that life presents every day. Additionally, this book, recently featured in PEOPLE magazine as ‘a charming book’, offers book owners the opportunity to customize the cover. One just simply uploads their favorite digital image to create a custom cover. The America at Home book is currently available at bookstores nationwide, most IKEA stores (with all proceeds going to Save the Children’s Early Steps to School Success), and at www.MyAmericaAtHome.com. Price $40.00 in bookstores; IKEA will offer the book late April with a 30% discount. Click here for a short documentary on the making of this book.


A GLIMPSE THROUGH THE KEYHOLE What is HOME today? Mom in aprons like yesteryear? We asked lots of questions. We rolled the cameras. What we found was amazing. IKEA studies how people live in their homes today, and all across the globe. How they eat together, organize their things, sleep in their beds. Joy. Sorrow. Laughter. Tears. It’s all in there. Peek through the keyhole and find out what seven families had to say about life at home.


	Nancy and Oz - A BEDTIME STORY What happens in America’s bedrooms today? Is it about intimacy or talk time? Are we cuddling with our kids and snuggling with our pets. Or do some of us just want to be alone; read or watch the tube? IKEA visited Nancy and Oz in their bedroom. “After dinner the kids head back to their rooms. They're teenagers…they go back to their rooms to do homework. Usually what happens after dinner is Oz heads to the living room. I head to the bedroom. We both chill for about an hour before we reunite in the bedroom. And then this becomes our wind down time together. To talk, to have bedtime snacks…to just be…you know…together.” - Nancy and Oz Take a sneak peek.


Jody, Frasier and Niles For pet lovers, life would not be complete without our furry best friends. Unconditional love. Slurpy kisses. And constant companionship. IKEA visited Jody, Frasier and Niles. “These are my best friends, Frasier and Niles. They come from Kentucky. I like to call them my Kentucky blue bloods. How do we communicate? Just like any human beings…these are my kids. They just happen to have four legs and white hair. They communicate through their eyes. They actually talk to me…which is called the westie whoo! A little crazy? I don’t think so. And yes, I have turned my home into a Westie shrine. Frasier and Niles rely on me for pretty much everything. And love, well there is never enough love to give my children… And kisses? Absolutely. I kiss my dogs on the lips!” - Jody, Owner of award winning dogs, Frasier and Niles Take a sneak peek


	America at home IKEA believes that homes are not just made of bricks and mortar with four walls. Home is an emotion - a feeling of security, safety, comfort, peace, about being yourself and being together with your loved ones. Home is the place where memories are made, relationships are built, where children and families grow together. IKEA believes that regardless of where you live or who you are, home is the most important place in the world. Take part in our survey.