IKEA PS launches its tenth edition: 43 designs built around playful functionality

IKEA returns with the tenth edition of IKEA PS - its most progressive design collection, where pushing the boundaries of Scandinavian design meets accessible everyday living. IKEA PS 2026 introduces 43 pieces that combine function with unexpected elements of playfulness, from a rotating floor lamp and inflatable easy chair to home furnishing and accessories that rock, fold, climb and more, ideal for modern Australian homes.

Since its debut in 1995, IKEA PS has been the collection where democratic design is at its most expressive and dynamic. For this edition, twelve designers were given freedom to explore playful functionality and interpret Scandinavian design in their own way, sharing one challenge: designing products that are simple but never boring and as functional as they are full of character.

”This the tenth generation of the IKEA PS collection brings together beautifully designed, highly functional products with an unbeatable price point. It’s liveable art. Pieces that make a statement, while still working effortlessly in everyday life. What we have seen is Australian homes have become highly functional after the past couple of years of needing to work harder than ever, but now there’s a growing shift back towards homes that are full of feeling, personality and emotionally connected to the people living there. With IKEA PS, it’s not just about how each piece looks at first glance, but how it continues to reveal its purpose through use. These are pieces designed to remind us that good design doesn’t have to be serious to be smart. ” says Ainslie Woodham, Home Furnishing and Retail Design Manager, IKEA Australia and New Zealand.

The collection is designed to spark n curiosity and invite interaction. The details are a little mischievous, designed to be discovered rather than admired from a distance.

There’s a table with a hidden drawer that pulls out from both sides, turning a shared meal into something a bit more fun, and the 1995 PS clock reimagined as a bent, periscope-like tube. Some pieces are understood immediately, like the rocking bench that gently moves the moment you sit down. Others reveal themselves as you use them, like a chair made up of simple shapes that encourages you to sit upright, sideways or draped over. The height-adjustable pine stool all but invites you to reach out and try the oversized ratchet lever to see what happens next. 

"Too much design is treated as precious and untouchable. I wanted to create the opposite response, with something that engages your interest and curiosity. When furniture invites play like that, it becomes something you use and live with fully, that brings joy into the everyday," says Mikael Axelsson, designer at IKEA of Sweden.

In small space homes where things must earn their space, several pieces do more than they first appear to. The statement sofa, built on pocket springs, works like a proper bed without looking like one. 

Similarly, the lounge chair in white or red unfolds in three easy steps to lay out as a comfortable guest bed. 

A solid wood dining table folds flat when it’s not needed, despite its sturdy construction, while a foldable chair can hang on the wall as a bold, sculptural piece when you’re not using it. 

Rotterdam-based designer Lex Pott's floor lamp rotates manually into three lighting positions – spotlight, reading light, and uplight – creating an entirely different atmosphere with each turn of the angled intersections. 

"Movement is what makes an object feel alive and gives it character," says Lex Pott. "When something is only playful, it risks becoming a gimmick. And when it's only functional, it can lack joy. But when you marry function and play, that's when it becomes interesting design.” 

Since the mid-1990s, IKEA has been working to develop furniture that uses air as a material. With IKEA PS 2026, it finally succeeds.

Designer Mikael Axelsson hand-welded 20 prototypes before arriving at a solution: two separate air chambers held within a tubular chrome frame. The chair arrives flat-packed with a foot pump and has undergone every durability test IKEA runs on all its armchairs. 

Traditional craftsmanship runs throughout the collection. Master cabinet maker and designer Friso Wiersma contributes two solid wood storage pieces, both rooted in his background as a boatbuilder. One cabinet features a woven timber front, where the craftsmanship becomes a defining design feature.  A wide solid pine shelf carries red-painted ends, a direct reference to how wood is traditionally marked during drying to prevent cracking.

Rounding out the collection are rugs, cushion covers, pre-cut fabrics and a throw featuring bold, expressive motifs by American artist Michelle Armas, alongside three hand-blown glass vases by Maria Vinka. Shaped like figurines with small ears, the collection proves that even the smallest details can bring an object to life. 

IKEA PS 2026 launches exclusively in-store from 4 June 2026 across IKEA Australia and New Zealand, with prices starting from $4.99 RRP. The collection will be available online from 18 June 2026.