A Tribute to IKEA founder, Ingvar Kamprad

Yesterday, IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad passed away aged 91. On the IKEA website today, the company pays tribute to the icon as "one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the 20th century." Kamprad had a vision "to create a better everyday life for the many people" through making good design affordable. Furthermore, the clean, simple aesthetics of IKEA design means the pieces are easy to blend into any space. As a personal tribute to Kamprad, I took a look at my own home to see just how many items from IKEA I enjoy daily!

Although the cabinets in my kitchen are made by Swedish brand - Marbodal, the IKEA STENSTORP kitchen island and LOHALS rug take centre stage! No doubt many of the smaller utensils were also picked up (without even noticing!) on my way through the blue and yellow super store (and I'm sure there are some of IKEAs meatballs lurking behind the fridge door too!

The Söderhamn chaise longue seen in the window is a relatively new purchase (you may have noticed just how popular it is among Scandinavian design lovers and all the members in my family!).

My bedroom has surprisingly few pieces of IKEA (shock, horror!)- but this is more than made up for by the Söderhamn armchair (I recently transformed it using a Bemz Malmen Velvet Chestnut cover - don't forget you can get 15% off right now with the code 15myscandinavianhome!). One of the beauties of IKEA furniture is that it can be hacked to create a more personal look and feel!

At first glance it's hard to spot anything from the furniture store in my daughter's bedroom. But sure enough, there on the windowsill is a plant, plant pot and picture frame all scooped up on a trip to the Malmö branch (most likely to buy something else entirely!).

And finally. It is apt that the little corner of my home where I sit each day to write this blog, my books - and lately, participate in live press interviews about the 'Father of flatpack', is almost entirely made up from IKEA pieces including the chair, ALEX drawer unit, desk and shelves!

So, what's next on my list? One of my favourite collections to date is the Stockholm 2017 (launched last April), which was "designed to mix and blend in with what you already have at home', and I've got my eye on this number (as well as a few other items from the range - naturally!)....

Thank you so much, Ingvar Kamprad, you set out with a vision "to create a better everyday life for the many people" and you certainly achieved that in my little corner of the world, and no doubt touched the lives of hundreds and thousands of others too.

I'm so curious to hear what IKEA means to you.
Do you have a favourite piece?


Photography credits (in order of appearance): 1 & 2: Agentur Loop. 3. Niki Brantmark. 4 & 5 Niki Brantmark / Genevieve Jorn. 6 Niki Brantmark. 7 - 10 IKEA. 11. Tweeted by @IKEAtoday.