IKEA's new sofa celebrates the retro home trend that designers love

IKEA has just made it even easier to bring the retro design trend into your scheme. Their new sofa, SMEDSTORP celebrates the best of a 1960s aesthetic, but it's making headlines in the contemporary day – and every home deserves one. 

The sofa of the moment is (according to IKEA) for those who like soft shapes of the past – but still crave modern comfort. Plus, it's a big sofa trend right now. Whilst it may be hard for the SMEDSTORP to endure an IKEA hack, there is little that needs changing with this sofa. 

The piece comes complete with resilient foam cushions, comfortable armrests, and cone-shaped legs that epitomize the retro style. IKEA suggests this look will last for many more years to come, and we'd be inclined to agree. However, we're not alone. Here, top designers share why you should embrace the retro trend – and invest in SMEDSTORP before the crowd. 

SMEDSTORP – and the retro sofa trend

In the past three months, Google searches for 'retro sofas have risen by 46% (according to Swyft). But what is the reason for this surge? Alongside the launch of IKEA's Scandi-cool statement, designers suggest the demand comes from our longing for nostalgia. 

'We look to shifting cultural trends to inform our style choices, so with retro-inspired content being at the center of the media right now, people will be taking inspiration from the past,' says their head of creative Kelly Collins. 

The SMEDSTORP comes in various hues and materials, but their velvet offering is perhaps their most apt in terms of the trend. 

'Velvet sofas make the perfect addition to a retro-interior scheme and are being chosen in bold colors such as jewel tones of yellow, orange, green, and blue,' says David Norman, the Director at Furl. 

To embrace this interior design trend completely, David adds that you should style your sofa with geometric patterned cushions, mid-century style sideboards, and deep pile rugs.

However, this isn't the only way to style the SMEDSTORP. This sofa's curves pay homage to the retro trend, so why not accentuate them? Sam Hood, the co-founder, and chief creative officer of AMARA, explains that, when styling your sofa, you should pair furniture styles from the same decade (rather than aiming just to go 'retro) so your pieces work seamlessly together. 

'That's because the designs tend to work well together,' she says in the discussion of her modern decorating ideas. 'Curves meet curves; boldness feeds off boldness; ornate styling threads through the whole space.'

We're picking up a SMEDSTORP as we speak. It's available globally now.