Ikea just gave its first-ever tour of its secret prototyping shop to a journalist. The Swedish furniture giant invited reporters inside its headquarters in Sweden to see where they create the 2,000 new products released every year.
Most of those Billy bookcases and Malm dressers have been in development for years, sometimes over a decade. The company’s design head Johan Ejdemo says his team of 20 designers goes “very deep in the details” to make furniture cheap enough for everyone.
Inside Ikea’s Secret Workshop
The tour happened at Ikea’s headquarters in Älmhult, the small Swedish city where the company started in the 1940s. Ejdemo, who has nearly 30 years at Ikea and a background as a cabinetmaker, leads both in-house designers and freelancers worldwide.
The focus for 2026 isn’t just making furniture look good. Ejdemo says they’re obsessing over “circularity” – making products that can be recycled or reused. They’re also prioritizing “optimism, playfulness, and human interaction” in their designs, which means more colorful pieces and natural materials.
This peek behind the curtain shows how Ikea maintains its “democratic design” philosophy – creating quality furniture that hits the lowest possible price through precise optimization and massive scale.
What’s Coming Next
Expect more playful colors and natural materials in future Ikea collections. The company is betting people want furniture that feels optimistic and encourages human connection, not just functional pieces that blend into the background.
