Ikea’s latest collection is an ode to the best parts of childhood
A giant monster hand. A loom. A 32-foot-long coloring book tapestry. A paint roller. You read that right, parents. A. Paint. Roller. This is the Ikea Lustigt collection, the company’s latest limited edition collection developed in conjunction with the design agency Vår–and not for you, but for your kids, ages 6 and up.
“The starting point for all play-related Ikea collections is the knowledge that play can have an enormously positive impact on both children and adults, and really contribute to a better everyday life,” the company writes. “Products include quiet, mind-focusing games that develop children’s logical thinking and fine motor skills, to more high-energy activities that get bodies of all ages moving.”
The items–which peak at $20–range from toys to crafts to furniture. But they’re notable for a certain sensibility we’ve never really seen from Ikea before, a goopy, kinetic whimsy. Every single item in the collection is interactive, from a velcro vest that you can tag with a fast ball, to a giant, spinning prize wheel. Only one piece has electronics of any sort–a light-up jump rope–which gives Lustigt an almost retro appeal. There’s even a basketball door hamper in the mix. When is the last time you saw one of those? I mentioned to a colleague that seeing Lustigt is like watching an episode of Family Ties playing on Swedish television. It’s nostalgia coated in Scandinavian panache.
Lustigt will be available in Ikea stores starting this October. (Note to Ikea: There is absolutely zero chance you’re handing my 4-year-old a paint roller inside my home–though what a clever ruse your little pigment-spreading toy is, if your goal is to force me to replace several pieces of my furniture in the next year.)
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