IKEA PS launches its tenth edition with designs built around playful functionality

Since its debut in 1995, IKEA PS has been the collection where democratic design is at its most expressive and dynamic. In this edition, twelve designers received an open brief 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.

"Central to IKEA PS is the idea that simplicity doesn't have to be boring, but that it can reveal design in its purest and most engaging form. My hope is that through interaction and surprise, this simplicity gives way to discovery, with objects that have multiple functions and unexpected details that make people happy", says Maria O'Brian, Creative Leader at IKEA of Sweden.

The collection is designed to appeal to our inherent human curiosity and the instinct to interact. The details are a little mischievous, designed to be discovered rather than admired from a distance – a secret drawer under a table that pulls from both ends to turn a meal into a game between two people dining, and the 1995 PS timepiece reimagined as a bent periscope-like tube. Some functions are understood immediately, like the rocking bench that sets you in gentle motion the moment you sit down. Others reveal themselves only once you touch and try, like a chair comprised of simple shapes that invites you to sit upright, sideways or draped over. The height-adjustable pine stool provokes an immediate, almost involuntary response to reach out and try the large ratchet-tooth 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 lounge chair in white or red unfolds in three steps to lay out as a comfortable guest bed. A solid wood dining table folds flat when it is not needed, despite its solid construction that looks anything but temporary. The foldable chair, when not busy being furniture, is designed to hang on the wall as a cubistic piece of artwork. 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.”

Craftsmanship and material innovation

Since the mid-1990s, IKEA has been trying, and failing, to make furniture that uses air as a material. With IKEA PS 2026, it finally succeeds. Designer Mikael Axelsson hand-welded 20 prototypes before solving the challenge with 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 craft is a red thread throughout the collection. Master cabinet maker and designer Friso Wiersma contributes two solid wood storage pieces, both rooted in his background as a boatbuilder. A cabinet features a woven wood front with veneer weaves where the craft is so visible it becomes the main 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 with expressive, colorful motifs by American artist Michelle Armas, as well as 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.

Shop IKEA PS 2026 exclusively in IKEA U.S. stores from May 14–27. The collection will be available to shop online starting May 28.

Designers of IKEA PS 2026: Henrik Preutz, Mikael Axelsson, Matilda Lindstam Nilsson, Ellen Hallström, Lex Pott, Lukas Bazle, Maria Vinka, Ola Wihlborg, Michelle Armas, David Wahl, Friso Wiersma.

Press contact: 
US Press
Press.US@ikea.com