Here’s the Real Reason Behind IKEA’s Iconic Furniture Names
If you’ve ever been to an IKEA store, you’ve probably wondered why something as simple as a cushion is named FJÄDERMOLN…
Or why the charcoal gray corner sofa is called FRIHETEN…
Of course, IKEA is a Swedish brand, so it was necessary for the company to inject some Swedish heritage into the brand.
But, it turns out, that’s not actually why IKEA furniture is so named.
In fact, the real reason why IKEA has such a unique naming method is the founder of the brand, Ingvar Kamprad, who suffers from dyslexia.
It is produced like this…
When Ingvar Kamprad originally started IKEA by shipping furniture to local customers by bicycle (yes, they were flat-packed from the start!), he started using numbers to identify furniture names.
Soon after implementing the system, however, Kamprad had trouble remembering the codes for each product, which proved to be a symptom of his dyslexia.
So instead of coming up with a ledger to track furniture codes, Kamprad took advantage of his disability to take a more creative and visual approach to naming his products.
Since Ingvar Kamprad still needed some type of organization and order to categorize products, the system he ended up creating was simple, beautiful, and clever.
Here’s how Kamprad created his naming system.
- Large furniture projects to be given names of large Swedish towns or cities
- The names on the chairs and tables are common Swedish names
- garden furniture named after swedish island
Thanks to this new naming system, it was easier for Kamprad to remember furniture names, as he was able to visualize each product as a place and person he was familiar with.
So what initially organized his business in a very personal and creative way has now become an iconic part of the IKEA brand and continues to this day.
To learn more about IKEA, don’t forget to check out our other posts on why IKEA is so popular, the unpronounceable IKEA name, and some fun facts about IKEA.
