There is plenty of evidence that surrounding yourself with art can benefit everything from your mood to your cognitive function. Yet when it comes to decorating our homes, furniture understandably tends to take priority, while art is often considered a luxury; a nice to have. That's what makes IKEA’s new KONSTRUNDA collection so interesting: it puts art front and center, without the gallery-worthy price tag.
For all its devotees, the big-box Scandinavian brand can sometimes be discounted as just a place to go for the basic building blocks of a home. But every now and then, IKEA products go beyond that, from the playful PS Collection to increasingly customizable wardrobes that can look surprisingly designer-made. And now, an accessible art collection with KONSTRUNDA.
Bringing together seven creators from different disciplines, backgrounds, and generations, IKEA's new collection comprises 22 distinctive pieces that reinterpret what art can look like in the home. There’s handblown glass objet, sculpture, wall-hangings, as well as more practical pieces, like a chunky chrome coffee table and sculptural stool. As for the inspiration, "Art should be available for all to enjoy, not a luxury reserved for galleries," says Karin Gustavsson, IKEA's creative Leader for KONSTRUNDA.
Translating to 'art tour,' KONSTRUNDA is quite literally a journey through different influences and aesthetics, with each creator bringing their own interpretation of art for the home. Some have worked with IKEA before, including in-house designer Akanksha Deo, who found the brief to create art objects rather than purely functional furniture particularly liberating. (She created two decorative objects and a tactile tapestry in a vibrant blue.)
Swedish glass, ceramics, and metal worker Lisa Reiser has also previously worked with IKEA since 2018, alongside her own collection of glass sculptures. Immediately brimming with ideas, the three glass sculptures she created for the collection were all her initial sketches. "There have just been some minimal changes of the curves to adjust for production," she tells Livingetc. "The team from IKEA and I traveled to the glass factory to try out some different colors and textures, and Karin and I decided together what colors would fit best in the collection."
Acclaimed Swedish designer Linda Hilland revelled the opportunity to work with IKEA again, but this time, without the typical problem-solving brief. "The challenge was to create with a lot of freedom," she notes. But, she flourished. "I actually started out in fine art at Central St Martin’s College in London in the 90s and it was wonderful to go back to my roots again," she adds.
Image credit: IKEA
Image credit: IKEA
Image credit: IKEA
Image credit: IKEA
London-based product and furniture designer Andu Masebo was also part of the team, designing a chunky chrome side table and two wooden stools-cum-side-tables that are also art objects in their own right.
Similarly, Italian designer Emanuele Stamuli, who is Stockholm-based and has worked with everyone from Ganni to Alexander Wang (though never IKEA), was brought on board. "It was an exciting opportunity, but also one I approached with a lot of curiosity,” he shares. He kept his designs simple: two vases, a stool, and a rug — all in black and white,with a tiny touch of chrome.
For Ingrid Leander, one of the youngest designers in the collection, along with her collaborator, Ignor Holtermann, KONSTRUNDA has been in the works for three years, after Karin Gustavsson approached her at an exhibition for her brand, IGGY.
"I brought in Igor to co-design with me, we’d already done a few projects together that touched on interiors," she explains. Their influences offer a striking blend of environment: caution tape and zebra crossings, along with palm trees emblazoned on a mirror to offer a moment of escape when glancing at your own reflection.
The result is a deliberately broad-ranging collection, with pieces bringing an artful note to the home. And with every item priced below £200, it makes a rather convincing case that you don’t need a gallery-sized budget to start collecting.
Shop IKEA's KONSTRUNDA Collection
This design by Linda Hilland is super sculptural and started life as a sketch. "I wanted to trigger emotions through the objects, make people happy," she says. The result is a vibrant orange arched sculpture that swirls wave-like from a swell on one side to the other. "What I love about it is that it transforms negative space into an equally integral part of the design," she adds.
IKEA designer Akanksha Deo treads familiar ground with this pine and steel sculpture, but completely liberates it from the idea of utility. Inspired by the traditional Indian wooden toys she had during her childhood, the block-y stack takes on the form of a playful, almost humanoid figure. It would work just as well on a curated shelf than it would in a kids' room.
It may look like polished silver, but this rippling sculpture is actually mouth-blown glass by designer Lisa Reiser. At 28cm, it’s small enough to perch on a side table or bookcase, but its reflective surface gives it plenty of presence. Lisa suggests you could also use it "like a podium where you could put another art object on top of it, or just keep it as a decorative sculpture in itself."
When approaching the KONSTRUNDA project, Italian designer Emanuele Stamuli wanted to create "very direct, accessible objects that bring a playful, almost childlike element into the home." His black-and-white wool rug certainly delivers. It takes the familiar runner silhouette and gives it a graphic twist, with pointed interjections breaking up the edges. "I love its geometry," he says. "It almost reminds me of a zebra skin. It’s graphic, playful and at the same time a bit sexy. It has a strong presence without overwhelming a space."
This black-and-white earthenware vase is another of Emanuele's designs. "The vases are based on two very simple, complementary shapes," the designer says. "I like how they almost seem to belong together, like a pair. Whether displayed separately or side by side, they naturally create a dialogue." Getting the vases just right was a process in itself, he shares. "Even though the objects may look simple, achieving that simplicity required many small adjustments and constant back-and-forth throughout the development."
Pine, a quintessentially material at IKEA, has had an ornate makeover in Linda Hilland’s KONSTRUNDA stool. Its scalloped, floral-inspired seat sits atop a base of wooden cylinders, each extending to a different length for an almost pan-flute-like effect. At 40cm tall, you can use it as a stool, though I’d be tempted to treat it as an art object in its own right.
This black sculpture is another of Lisa Reiser’s mouth-blown glass designs, with a wonderfully squashed silhouette that looks as though it has been gently pressed in the middle. With blunt ends, the glossy finish catches the light, with the designer adding that the sunken middle "could be a bowl as well, maybe for jewelry or to collect some small items in."
Another of Emanuele Stamuli's contributions, this glossy stainless steel side table, with its black and white base, is as sculptural as it is functional. "The side table is perhaps the simplest object in the collection," he admits, adding, "What I enjoy most is that its proportions feel slightly unexpected. It’s minimal, but with just enough character to make you look twice.” It fits his goal: "To bring a sense of joy and a smile to people’s everyday lives."
This highly polished stainless-steel sculpture takes the same playful approach to chrome, bouncing light in all directions from its crumpled, seemingly gravity-defying top. Two globes appear to have been smushed together, with one left open at the top. Though conceived purely as an art object, the hollow section can also corral a few small items, or simply be left to shine on its own.
Another of Lisa Reiser's deigns, this time, the mouth-blown glass piece is in matte black and with the added functionality of a vase. Its organic, almost tree-like form seems to twist and grow upwards, inspired, Lisa says, by her own daydreams: "I float away in my thoughts, just as the surfaces of these sculptures flow."
This electric-blue, glass-topped side table is confidently playful, blending graphic art with everyday utility. Dreamt up by North London designer Andu Masebo, its swirling tubular form sits low to the ground. Pop it in the middle of a room for an instant eye-catcher, or use its vibrant color to create a scene-stealing corner beside a more neutral armchair. It’s also available in space-age chrome.
KONSTRUNDA’s seven designers clearly share a fascination with chrome and its ultra-polished, light-bouncing qualities. Here, Andu bends the material out of shape, creating a bulbous, bowl-like form that makes an instant eye-catcher. Fill it with trinkets or leave it empty to admire its sculptural silhouette. Made from stainless steel, it would look particularly striking catching the afternoon light on a coffee table.
Akanksha Deo’s electric-blue hanging tapestry brings a softer, more tactile note to the collection. Crowned with a strip of orange, its shaggy recycled-polyester surface has a distinctly seventies feel, while its generous dimensions make it substantial enough to turn a blank slice of wall into an instant focal point. And yes, there is something rather satisfying about running your hands over that shaggy texture.
Like water pouring from a spout, this frosted green glass sculpture was dreamt up by Lisa Reiser, complete with soothing, mouth-blown rivulets cascading down its surface. “"It looks even better when light shines through it," the designer shares. "The shadows become deeper and lifts the form even more."
“Our part of the collection is built around two recurring motifs: palm trees and caution tape,” explains Ingrid Leander. Not the most obvious bedfellows, but together they make for one of KONSTRUNDA’s most graphic designs. Measuring 220cm long by 155cm wide, here the familiar area rug is transformed into something much more expressive.
Underpinned by an ethos of democratizing art and encouraging shoppers to curate their own eclectic collections at home, KONSTRUNDA sees IKEA doing for art what it has long done for furniture: making it accessible.
Whether you choose one statement piece or mix several together, the collection’s eclectic influences make it an easy starting point for creating an eclectic living room with plenty of personality.
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