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The IKEA catalogue through the ages

ikeamuseum.com

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Re: The IKEA catalogue through the ages

#11

Post by pelasaco »

arketyp wrote: post #6
professor_v wrote: post #5

I definitely think it's a mistake that IKEA stopped printing their catalogues last year. The offline experience is totally different from online. Online I tend to do direct searches for things I already decided I want, but the IKEA catalog is perfect for casual browsing and getting new ideas for stuff I would've never bought otherwise. It might come off as a cost saving short term, but I doubt in the end the catalogu…

I wonder to what extent it's due to considering the environmental impact bad publicity.

probably cost saving, but disguised as CO2 emission reduction

Re: The IKEA catalogue through the ages

#12

Post by 2muchcoffeeman »

lqet wrote: post #10

I am surprised to see that my beloved Poäng armchair (mine has served me well for 20 years now, with a new upholstery every 6 years) is already present on the cover of the 1977 catalogue: https://ikeacatalogues.ikea.com/77436/1102677/pages/4a7b75dd... The part for sitting seems to have been made out of metal back then, in my version, it is the same plywood material as the frame.

Billy has been around since 1979. Don’t mess with the classics!

Re: The IKEA catalogue through the ages

#13

Post by lqet »

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #12
lqet wrote: post #10

I am surprised to see that my beloved Poäng armchair (mine has served me well for 20 years now, with a new upholstery every 6 years) is already present on the cover of the 1977 catalogue: https://ikeacatalogues.ikea.com/77436/1102677/pages/4a7b75dd... The part for sitting seems to have been made out of metal back then, in my version, it is the same plywood material as the frame.

Billy has been around since 1979. Don’t mess with the classics!

I was aware of that, but I would've never guessed that IKEA started selling Poäng before they started selling Billy.

Re: The IKEA catalogue through the ages

#14

Post by Jensson »

The room ins the 80's looks like modern rooms. The decades before looks more alien/old, so it seems like furniture stopped changing much about 40 years ago.

To me it is interesting seeing how progress was fast and then slowed down at different points in different fields. Like, how far back do you have to go before you start noticing that these things aren't new? For webpage design you see how it was really different 20 years ago, but not that different 10 years ago, game graphics mostly peaked 5-10 years ago depending on genre (people still happily buy and play gta5 that is 8 years old without cringing at its graphics) etc.

Re: The IKEA catalogue through the ages

#17

Post by vintermann »

Jensson wrote: post #14

The room ins the 80's looks like modern rooms. The decades before looks more alien/old, so it seems like furniture stopped changing much about 40 years ago. To me it is interesting seeing how progress was fast and then slowed down at different points in different fields. Like, how far back do you have to go before you start noticing that these things aren't new? For webpage design you see how it was really different…

40 years ago was when teak went out of fashion (possibly out of concern for the rainforest?) and pine went in. But I think it has changed a lot still from that, 80s living rooms still look alien to me even though I'm old enough to remember them.

The IKEA 80s living rooms have some things in common with those I've seen in old films and sitcoms (e.g. Back to the Future), but it's still not quite the same. IKEA 80s catalog images are as it was in Norway though, totally.

Re: The IKEA catalogue through the ages

#18

Post by mattowen_uk »

arketyp wrote: post #6
professor_v wrote: post #5

I definitely think it's a mistake that IKEA stopped printing their catalogues last year. The offline experience is totally different from online. Online I tend to do direct searches for things I already decided I want, but the IKEA catalog is perfect for casual browsing and getting new ideas for stuff I would've never bought otherwise. It might come off as a cost saving short term, but I doubt in the end the catalogu…

I wonder to what extent it's due to considering the environmental impact bad publicity.

Compared to this though?

"Ikea has for years sold children’s furniture made from wood linked to vast illegal logging in protected Russian forests, an Earthsight investigation has found."

https://www.earthsight.org.uk/news/press-release-illegal-rus...

Re: The IKEA catalogue through the ages

#19

Post by Aardwolf »

professor_v wrote: post #5

I definitely think it's a mistake that IKEA stopped printing their catalogues last year. The offline experience is totally different from online. Online I tend to do direct searches for things I already decided I want, but the IKEA catalog is perfect for casual browsing and getting new ideas for stuff I would've never bought otherwise. It might come off as a cost saving short term, but I doubt in the end the catalogu…

Or they could improve the website to make it easier to get an overview of everything by category and scroll through listings with details with as little clunkiness and ephemeralness as possible

Re: The IKEA catalogue through the ages

#20

Post by IgorPartola »

arketyp wrote: post #2

It used to be common in Sweden to see stickers by the mail slot that read "No advertisement, please! But gladly the IKEA catalogue." They stopped distributing the printed catalogue long before 2021, but I've kept the sticker.

Boy I wish this was a thing in the US. The amount of junk mail I get is ridiculous.
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