We all know that IKEA's main objective is to make furniture accessible to everyone. In recent years there has been a proliferation of signature collections that allow a wide public to own pieces signed, for example, by Virgil Abloh or Sabine Marcelis: this is the democratisation of luxury, which we discussed in a recent article, investigating the difficult marriage between mass production and art-design (or collectible design). An increasingly popular trend lately sees the situation reversed: furniture designed for the masses, and originally available at popular prices, now reaches astronomical costs in (online) vintage furniture markets. On numerous e-commerce sites, you can buy IKEA furniture that has increased in value a hundredfold over time, sometimes costing more than 5000 euros.
When IKEA furniture becomes a collector’s item: the 15 most wanted vintage pieces
Can an IKEA chair cost thousands of euros? Yes, if the designer was Verner Panton and the furniture has become extremely sought-after by vintage collectors.
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- Salvatore Peluso
- 14 April 2021
“The most popular vintage Ikea pieces are from the 1980s and 1990s. I think this is because Ikea in this era began to define itself as a brand aimed at a youthful, urban and contemporary audience. The silhouettes are fun, eye-catching and colourful, even while maintaining a rather minimalist quality,” said Wava Carpenter, founder of e-commerce Pamono and the newest director of Design Miami, to The Guardian. “There’s a rising market for 1960s Ikea furniture, which often looked like midcentury modern Scandinavia. It’s a bit less distinctive in terms of the brand identity, but it’s also pretty rare to find these days.”
To investigate this trend, we took a tour of the major vintage furniture e-commerce websites and selected the 15 pieces of IKEA furniture that are most sought after and coveted by collectors. In our search, we also came across the Instagram page @billy.forsale: a collection of vintage IKEA furniture, which held its first auction dedicated to the Swedish brand in November 2020. In our selection you won't find the world-famous Billy bookcase, sold in millions worldwide and therefore anything but rare, but there are also some pieces of furniture designed by the same author: Gillis Lundgen.
The Moment sofa is one of the many ideas that came out of Niels Gammelgaard's pencil for Ikea. The steel structure was inspired by a visit to a shopping trolley factory. Only 11 nuts and bolts are needed to assemble it
Vintage furniture web portal VNTG rates the Moment sofa between 400 and 500 euros
The Danish designer has also designed a dining table (or desk) that has a similar structure. It can be found on Pamono for about 700 euros
Marketed in 1996, Ulk is a now very rare piece inspired by the postmodern design of the Memphis group. It was recently sold on Chairish for 540 dollars
Monika Mulder began her career in the Ikea design department (PS Design) in Sweden. Her work combines functionality with striking aesthetics. Mulder is now an internationally recognised designer who has won numerous awards and exhibited in major design museums
The Hasslo chair has a dynamically shaped orange painted metal frame, while the seat and back are made of transparent plastic, joined to the structure by 4 almost invisible screws. A set of 4 Hasslo chairs is sold on Design Addict for 950 euros
The Impala sofa and armchair are among the most successful classics on the vintage market. Designed by Gillis Lundgren (the father of the famous Billy bookcase), the furniture features a tubular metal frame and unique upholstery in bright colours: red or gold
Currently on sale on the Tarquin Bilden website for almost €6,000
Bergslagen is part of a collection dedicated to the 18th century, conceived in collaboration with Lars Sjöberg, then curator of the National Museum in Sweden. Launched in 1993, the collection was a resounding flop, and after six years production was stopped. Nevertheless, today the Bergslagen table is one of the most sought-after items on the vintage market. Price €500
In the early 1990s, the famous designer was commissioned by IKEA to design a limited edition chair (only 3,000 pieces). The do-it-yourself style product is made of MDF boards covered with matt laminated coloured resin (purple, blue, green, red)
The Vilbert chair is now considered a design classic and sells for at least 4,000 euros (Pamono)
In the 1970s, Swedish designer Karin Mobring was the protagonist of several successful pieces of furniture. Her most famous piece is undoubtedly the Admiral armchair, in metal and leather, on the market since 1971. Cost: €5,000 (on room58.dk)
Wooden frame, fabric seat and back, leather straps: the Diana Safari chair is inspired by the chairs of British officers. On Pamono for 350 euro
Danish designer and architect Arne Wahl Iversen is among the designers who helped define the Scandinavian Mid-Century style. Despite the scarcity of information about his life, his work is highly desirable on the vintage collectors' market. Produced between 1959 and 1968, the Spectum console table is made of oak, with Teak veneer. On sale at Pamono for 600 euros
Another hard-to-find piece by Arne Wahl Iversen is the Prim armchair, currently on sale on VNTG for 1350 euros
Produced in the early 2000s, the armchair designed by Mats Theselius features an unusual combination of rattan and brushed steel
Because of the difficulty in making the chair, very few copies were produced, and it has become very rare and sought-after. 1stDibs values the pair of chairs at 5,500 euro
This armchair would not look out of place in the Plastic Collection of the Design Museum Brussels, perhaps between Eero Aarnio's Pastilli ou Gyro and Alberto Rosselli's Play. The original price of this lounge was €11. Today it sells for over 1000€ (Pamono)
Desk veneered in jacaranda, with an extendable top on one side and drawers on the other. Today it sells for 400 euros
Gillis Lundgen's furniture was born out of the wide availability of denim fabric. IKEA founder Ingvar Kamprad bought a 5km roll of denim to give designers the opportunity to experiment with the material
A very popular piece of furniture at the time - it is no coincidence that it was on the cover of the 1973 catalogue - the armchair is now valued at over 1,000 euros