Playfulness isn’t just the domain of children, though, as children’s wonder and restlessness often informs how designers translate “playfulness” into objects like lamps, chairs, and benches. IKEA is previewing its new PS 2026 collection — the 10th postscript to its main catalog in 30 years — with three products that exemplify the collection’s “playful functionality” theme: a three-way floor lamp, an inflatable easy chair and a rocking bench. Since the first PS collection in 1995, democratic design has been a unifying principle in every iteration, and the recently released teaser proves that this year will be no different.
The defining characteristics of democratic design, as explained by IKEALow prices, form, function, quality and durability. The increased focus on sporty functionality in 2026 is nothing new; The Swedish retailer has been in the middle for a long time Best Places to Buy Playroom Furniture And other light things. Consider the earlier PS collection, which was a supplement to the IKEA catalog but not an afterthought. The 1999 collection includes a coffee table by Thomas Erickson (one of his IKEA’s most iconic design), a child-themed approach defined the 2003 lineup, and in 2009, IKEA released a wonderfully whimsical and imaginative collection of practical household furnishings. PS 2026 brings back this tradition of inspired innovation, with three preview pieces giving us a glimpse of the lighthearted designs in store when the full 35-piece collection is released on May 13.
Topsy-Turvy Seating: An inflatable chair and rocking bench
IKEA designers Mikael Axelsson and Marta Krupinska contributed two preview pieces to the PS 2026 collection, an inflatable chair and a rocking bench. The inflatable chair might look like the inevitable bucking bronco sitting on the floor waiting to be dumped, but this isn’t IKEA’s first rodeo. Previous attempts at pump-plumped furniture informed this new chair, which is reined in by its chrome frame and has even been tested by children and cats … although not everyone is entirely sure it will last. What everyone thinks is great is not always the best measure of greatness, which is why democratic design also has designers rather than voters. But sometimes, people get it right, and the new collection’s inflatable chair seems to be gaining interest as a surefire way to make a statement.
If the chair rocks, IKEA’s new bench rolls. It looks like a rocking horse that has been de-horsed, leaving it as a frame to be ridden side saddle. But this is not for your child A fantasy Scandinavian nursery. A product launch photo shows two dogs sitting on one end of a bench, tipping down the end and unwittingly inventing a baby terrier catapult. And it’s hard for parents not to imagine that the bench instantly becomes a kind of indoor seesaw, rubbing its way across your hardwood floor and into the vintage antique shelf where you keep your collection of film cameras and artisanal mixtapes. In all seriousness, though, this looks more fun than you might reasonably expect from an IKEA bench.
A simple but fun lamp for flexible lighting
IKEA says designer Lex Pott “wondered what happens when you cut a steel cylinder at 45 degrees and start rotating the pieces” … a long feature of flashlight design. He created a torchier lamp, as envisioned by the most strident of minimalists, integrating two points of 45-degree rotation to receive light at different angles. (Or, at its top few inches, as a lost Magritte study called “Ceci n’est pas un martini”) The result is a lamp that can direct light upwards (uplight), downwards (reading light) or horizontally (spotlight). If those were the only directions the lamp was capable of, the spotlight mode would probably be of limited use. But the lamp’s two joints are adjustable for any angle… although any position other than 0 or 180 degrees doesn’t line up the joint ellipses, which makes it look a bit wonky.
Of course, this isn’t IKEA’s first foray into multi-directional floor lamps. The 2009 PS collection featured the SVARVA lamp, which the designers called “a bendable, curved wooden pole” and looked like one of those tripods you might wrap around a hotel railing or a roller coaster safety bar. And IKEA currently offers Hector lamp, which can receive all directions of the PS 2026 lamp at the same time. What makes this new lamp special is its aesthetics and the experience of using it as task or accent lighting, perfectly fitting IKEA and the PS collection focused on playful functionality.
