IKEA
The IKEA KONSTRUNDA collection has arrived with a rather convincing argument: you don’t need a whole lot of cash to make your home look luxurious. There’s something about a room filled with original art that immediately makes it feel more expensive– not necessarily money expensive, but interesting expensive.
It’s the wonky ceramic sitting on a side table, the enormous artwork where you expected a television, or the sculptural object that makes you want to ask its owner, “Where did you find that?” The trouble is, building an art collection can also be intimidating – particularly when you’re decorating on a budget.
Enter IKEA.
The Swedish furniture giant is launching KONSTRUNDA, a limited-edition collection of 22 pieces created by seven artists and designers, and it might just be the easiest way to bring the coveted ‘art collector’ look home without actually becoming an art collector.
Launching in Australia on September 1, the collection includes everything from handblown glass and ceramics to sculptural furniture, textiles and mirrors. And while we’re very familiar with affordable art prints, this is something quite different. KONSTRUNDA is all about the object.
The ‘collected home’ is replacing the perfectly decorated one
The most interesting homes rarely look as though everything arrived on the same delivery truck.
There’s an old chair found at a market beside a contemporary lamp. A painting picked up on holiday. A strange ceramic bought because its owner couldn’t stop thinking about it. It’s that mix that creates what designers often refer to as a collected interior – a home that feels layered and personal rather than perfectly coordinated. And sculptural pieces can do much of the heavy lifting.
KONSTRUNDA – which translates to ‘Art Tour’ – deliberately sits somewhere between an art exhibition and a homewares collection. Its contributors were encouraged to explore their own artistic practices, resulting in pieces that aren’t designed to disappear quietly into a room. Some are decidedly strange. Which, in this case, is a compliment.
There are sculptural wooden stools, graphic textiles, shiny metal objects and handblown glass pieces, including artist Lisa Reiser’s translucent green creation that bears a delightful resemblance to an enormous gummy lolly.
IKEA designer Akanksha Deo has even created a stainless-steel bowl with a deep indentation in its centre, transforming an otherwise familiar household object into something altogether more curious.
These are the pieces people notice.
The trick is not making it look like IKEA
Of course, there is one small problem with buying art from one of the world’s largest homeware retailers. Everyone else can buy it too. But creating a collected-looking home has less to do with where you buy something and much more to do with how you style it.
The secret? Don’t buy the entire collection. Choose one piece you genuinely love and allow it to feel slightly unexpected amongst the things you already own.
Place a contemporary sculpture on an antique chest. Hang a graphic textile beside traditional artwork. Put a colourful ceramic object in an otherwise neutral room.
Contrast creates the illusion that pieces have been accumulated slowly rather than purchased together. It’s also worth resisting the urge to fill every surface. A single sculptural object surrounded by negative space will almost always look more considered – and more expensive – than six decorative objects squeezed onto the same shelf.
Look beyond the walls for art
Perhaps the most interesting thing about KONSTRUNDA is that it challenges our tendency to think art must be something framed and hung on a wall.
Swedish designer Lisa Hilland has turned humble pine into a sculptural stool with intricate detailing, while other pieces in the collection blur the distinction between furniture and artwork.
It’s an idea IKEA has been playing with for some time. Its 2021 Art Event similarly paired artists and designers to explore the space between functional household objects and art, with pieces including an unusual clock, lighting and ceramics. More recently, IKEA PS 2026 has continued the move towards expressive furniture, with IKEA Australia describing the collection as “liveable art” and noting a shift towards homes with more feeling and personality.
And it’s a useful decorating trick.
Look around your room and ask: What could become the art? It might be a sculptural lamp. An unusual chair. A beautifully shaped vase. Even an interesting mirror.
The limited-edition IKEA KONSTRUNDA collection launches in Australia on September 1, 2026.
Related stories
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Share this post