IKEA to launch design and lifestyle festival during Salone del Mobile

Swedish furniture behemoth IKEA is set to edge its way further into the design world with a micro-festival opening during Salone del Mobile in Milan in early April.
Having upped the ante via collaborations with the likes of Ilse Crawford (which won a Wallpaper* Design Award last year), Form Us With Love, Tom Dixon and Hay, the company is now set to take on the most important event of the design calendar with a dedicated multidisciplinary event.
Home Smart system lighting by IKEA
The staging, titled ‘Let’s Make Room for Life’, was inspired by the brand’s fascination with home-life and living spaces. ‘For many people, the living room is the most important room in the home. It's a room that is both public and personal where you can show who you are and who you want to be,' says IKEA design manager Marcus Engman, who is curating the showcase. ‘But the functions and furniture people need in the living room is rapidly changing. As a curious company, it’s our job to accept the challenge of these new needs and redefine the living room.’
Housed in a warehouse in Milan’s Lambrate district, the show will transform the venue into an emporium of design, architecture, lifestyle, sustainability and food (what IKEA describes as the ‘future living room’).
As well as a host of workshops, installations, interviews, music and live prototyping, the brand will also be debuting six new collections including Tom Dixon’s ‘Delaktig’ daybed and furniture by Hay. IKEA will also be popping up at Dixon’s own show at Teatro Manzoni with a film festival, sharing the ideas behind the ‘Delaktig’ project.
The company will also showcase its innovative ’Home Smart’ system as part of the event
INFORMATION
The festival will run from 4–9 April at Salone del Mobile in Milan. For more information, visit the IKEA website
Receive our daily digest of inspiration, escapism and design stories from around the world direct to your inbox.
Sujata Burman is a writer and editor based in London, specialising in design and culture. She was Digital Design Editor at Wallpaper* before moving to her current role of Head of Content at London Design Festival and London Design Biennale where she is expanding the content offering of the showcases. Over the past decade, Sujata has written for global design and culture publications, and has been a speaker, moderator and judge for institutions and brands including RIBA, D&AD, Design Museum and Design Miami/. In 2019, she co-authored her first book, An Opinionated Guide to London Architecture, published by Hoxton Mini Press, which was driven by her aim to make the fields of design and architecture accessible to wider audiences.
-
The world’s best swimwear brands, according to Wallpaper*
From architectural precision to a sense of ease and luxury, our comprehensive guide to the world’s best swimwear brands – for both men and women – will help you find the perfect beach attire this summer
-
Aesop’s Queer Library bookmarks brilliant literature, no purchase required
Returning to London’s Soho, 3-6 July 2025, the Queer Library pop-up offers complimentary books by LGBTQIA+ authors and allies
-
Wangechi Mutu's powerful sculptures take over the palatial interiors of Rome's Galleria Borghese
The Kenyan-born artist is the first living woman to have a solo exhibition at the villa
-
O Milano! Design's epic annual spectacle in photos
Call us biased, but we believe that Milan Design Week is, at this moment in time, the greatest show on earth
-
‘Romantic brutalism’ rethinks Polish craft
An exhibition in Warsaw gives local makers their due, looking inside the burgeoning world of Polish design
-
Eight designers to know from Rossana Orlandi Gallery’s Milan Design Week 2025 exhibition
Wallpaper’s highlights from the mega-exhibition at Rossana Orlandi Gallery include some of the most compelling names in design today
-
Bentley’s new home collections bring the ‘potency’ of its cars to Milan Design Week
New furniture, accessories and picnic pieces from Bentley Home take cues from the bold lines and smooth curves of Bentley Motors
-
StoneX partners with Wallpaper* for material alchemy at Milan Design Week and beyond
The natural stone purveyor teams up with Wallpaper* for a three-year partnership of material adventures, starting with an exhibition at Triennale di Milano
-
David Rockwell’s Milan Design Week presentation is a love letter to cork
Rockwell Group’s Casa Cork installation showcases this under-appreciated material, which is infinitely recyclable and sequesters carbon for decades
-
Emerging galleries to discover during Milan Design Week
Wallpaper’s Milan editor has the inside track on the younger design galleries coming to town
-
Buccellati brings the forest and Furry Animals to Milan Design Week
The jewellery and silverware maison falls back on tradition for its Milan showcase, presenting its now-emblematic collection of intricately crafted creatures