23-07-2025
IKEA's prints have transformed how homes everywhere look
Culture | Interior design A collection of bright ideas Photograph: © Inter IKEA Systems B.V. 2025 Jul 23rd 2025 | EDINBURGH | 4 min read
N O FIRM IN history has had as penetrating an impact on everyday design and taste as IKEA . Even if you have never found yourself winding through a shop, absent-mindedly adding 'Billy' bookcases, 'Rodalm' picture frames or 'Glimma' tea lights to a trolley, you will probably have encountered 'Stockholm' rugs, 'Rinnig' tea towels or 'Ektorp' sofas in the homes of friends or in Airbnbs. This is, after all, a company with over 480 shops in 63 countries, which generated around €45bn ($52bn) in sales last year.
As people flee the increasingly authoritarian city they are taking their sweet teeth with them
Our picks ask why people believe in religion, ideology or conspiracy theories
For decades the country's officials turned international adoption into a money-making racket
Kits encode all sorts of information, Joey D'Urso argues
It is not just vinyl. Film cameras and print publications are trendy again, too
Three new books look at the blind spots of the intelligence services
