For young people living in a city, square footage in a home can be hard to come by. Studios with storage space are gold dust, house shares may be a necessity, and moves may be frequent. After spending time with young adults living in central London, Ikea has developed a new furniture and accessories collection inspired by the realities of renting, moving home, and student life.
Adpatable and portable, Ikea’s ‘Kompishäng’ collection
Among the participating twentysomethings, they discovered consistent challenges: limited storage space, and worn-out moving boxes used in place of furniture. What they also saw was a small number of easily movable objects that had been carried from one property to the next.
The ‘Kompishäng’ collection features 12 designs, including a folding table/desk, stools that stack to become shelving or a display unit, a pick-up-able bookshelf-bookend combo, a hanging wardrobe organiser that can be carried like a bag, back-of-door storage, and even a collapsible jute plant pot.
The collection is designed to be durable and functional, with pieces crafted from materials such as solid pine, powder-coated steel, and canvas.
The wheeled bag
'It's designed to accompany life's transitions – equally at home in a first apartment, a family house, or even a retirement space,' says designer David Wahl, whose round side table is lightweight and folds flat.
To help ease the stress of transporting furniture across the city, there is also a bag on wheels, which can equally serve as a shopping bag or a picnic basket. 'We wanted to create furniture that could be moved with your body alone, without needing a car,' comments Ikea designer Wiebke Braasch.
The folding desk/table, £70; and stool, £40 per pair
The lightweight table lends itself to moving home or around your space
‘Even if you move often, you don’t want your home to feel temporary,' says Dora Ding, Ikea product developer. 'We saw how carefully people chose the things they carried with them from place to place, and that insight shaped the collection. We wanted the collection to be portable but still have a permanent look: people should feel settled and considered.’
Shop the collection
