Ikea’s new book promises to be a coffee table must-have

Retro Ikea furniture is now collectable: Your pieces from the 90s could be worth a fortune

(Image credit: IKEA)

published 7 January 2022

IKEA may have revolutionized your library with its BILLY and KALLAX units – but now they’re set to dominate your shelving’s contents too. Cue, Us & Our Planet: This is How We Live, the furniture label’s new book made in collaboration with global publishers Phaidon.

The book that Phaidon will publish in March 2022 investigates one of the biggest challenges of our generation: living sustainably. Yes, while you may associate the label with ingenious IKEA hacks, the Swedish design house is also recognized for its green approach to shopping – and Us & Our Planet is the next step in their sustainable movement.

The book hopes to create ‘a better everyday life’ for us and our planet through design by exhibiting case studies on a diverse group of people from Mexico to Moscow and everywhere in between. In highlighting the lives and homes of these individuals, IKEA hopes to provoke small actions in your own home – and reshape your modern decorating ideas for the better.

IKEA collection 2021, circular coffee table with storage

It is split into six chapters – Time, Space, Food, Rest, Play, and Togetherness that all include two case studies and one photo essay that best showcases the IKEA designs in all their glory.

Us & Our Planet: This is How We Live is perhaps a natural step for IKEA who has conducted Home Visits worldwide since the mid-20th century. Their learnings inform their product development and are behind many of their staples that (may) stand in your scheme today. The book explores their most iconic pieces from the past and present – while looking ahead to the future of sustainable design.

Therefore, if you want an idea of what your Poäng will look like in 2030 (when IKEA plans to complete the transformation from linear to circular), this is the book for you.

IKEA book — *Us & Our Planet: This is How We Live Edited by Maisie Skidmore*, with a foreword by Peter, Mathias, and Jonas Kamprad is published by Phaidon, £19.95

And the best part? While the book is filled with pages of inspirational content, the cover (above) is set to make a statement on your coffee table. This book will look good and do good – while becoming the designer-it crowd accessory you need to know about. You heard it here first.

Us & Our Planet: This is How We Live will be published in March 2022 (US customers can pick one up on March 2nd, but the UK date will be announced soon). You can pre-order your copy here now.

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Megan is the Head of Celebrity Style News at Homes & Gardens. She first joined Future Plc as a News Writer across their interiors titles, including Livingetc and Real Homes, before becoming H&G's News Editor in April 2022. She now leads the Celebrity/ News team.

Before joining Future, Megan worked as a News Explainer at The Telegraph, following her MA in International Journalism at the University of Leeds. During her BA in English Literature and Creative Writing, she gained writing experience in the US whilst studying in New York. Megan also focused on travel writing during her time living in Paris, where she produced content for a French travel site.

Megan currently lives in London, where she relocated from her hometown in Yorkshire. In her home, she experiments with interior design trends and draws inspiration from the home decor ideas she observes in her everyday work life. Her favorite pieces include her antique typewriter and her expansive collection of houseplants. When she isn’t writing, she is browsing London’s coffee shops and bookstores to add to her ever-growing library, taking over the open shelving in her apartment.

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