I'm sitting with the man who decides what more than 900 million shoppers globally will want next in their home. We're at Ikea HQ in Älmhult, a small Swedish town most people have never heard of, and even fewer could find on a map.Johan Ejdemo started his furniture career at 15 when he began training as a cabinetmaker. Now, he’s an Ikea lifer, having notched up nearly 30 years at the company. As design manager, he leads an in-house team of 20, as well as a roster of freelance designers, shaping the 1,500 to 2,000 new products the company releases every year.Ikea's design chief Johan Ejdemo talks WIRED through his favorite Ikea pieces.
Courtesy of IKEALast month, he launched the PS 2026 collection, the tenth edition of the brand's budget design series, which has returned after a nine-year gap. Its 44 pieces are built around the concept of “playful functionality” and include a shape-shifting floor lamp, a see-saw bench, and an inflatable easy chair (tested by cats, no less). All of the items are affordable, ranging from $5 to $500.Considering the brand has worked with designers as notable as Verner Panton, Tom Dixon, and Gillis Lundgren, and vintage Ikea gear is now going for thousands, it felt entirely proper to grill the impeccably dressed and softly spoken Ejdemo on what Ikea pieces he's personally bought for his own home. Has this cabinetmaker ever bought a Billy bookcase? Let's find out.Silversida Recycled Ceramic Tableware“I have these blue-dotted Silversida bowls and plates made out of recycled ceramics from the collection designed by our in-house designer Henrik Preutz, who also did the Chair in the 2026 PS collection. I just think it's a beautiful thing to be able to recycle ceramics, because normally they just end up becoming landfill.”“Very nice shapes, versatile shapes, easy to use for a lot of different things. And I like these blue dots. This spot painting is very traditional Scandinavian—this was the way you painted your walls. To decorate you did this spot painting. I like this being an industrial production line here, but there's still hand-done spot painting going on in that line.”“I picked this bowl specifically because the painter has missed [the bowl] and it ended up on the outside. I just love that. Now, someone would have seen this as a mistake, but I love that one. The imperfection of it. Obviously, that's the one I will take—the unique one.”Ejdemo loves Ikea roasting pans…
