PS I Love You
Yesterday, during yet another mad Sunday dash to IKEA for a car-load of feather cushion inserts before a busy week of properties to style, I was caught off guard and fell in love… again.
Maybe it was the intoxicating aroma of warm cinnamon buns wafting through the air that put me in the mood, or perhaps it was the first summery dose of sun and warm weather over the long Melbourne weekend (Grand Final Footie! Go figure!!). But right there, between the kitchen and bathroom sections it happened, I made a beeline for the floppy, brightly coloured linen and feather scatter cushions.
Unfortunately however they were handcuffed to the display... After a frantic search on the shelves below, I was forced to hunt down one of the elusive IKEA employees.
“PS,” she told me, sending my heart aflutter. The set of three coloured pure linen scatter cushions were from IKEA’s PS range of limited-production ‘designer’ pieces.
In addition to the first ‘PS,’ there was a second message from my friend (after all, with all the IKEAs around the world I’ve been to, I believe I’ve earned the right to call her and all her colleagues in yellow a ‘friend’). The second ‘PS’ was far more heartbreaking than the first—“P.S. they are sold out.”
Well, after the initial heartbreak, I quickly pulled myself together and put on both my ‘designer hat’ and my ‘international IKEA specialist hat’ (P.S. IKEAs are exactly the same from Melbourne to Toronto to Rome to Newark, New Jersey—EXACTLY). And - brace yourselves, I was able to buy the display set at a discount!
The IKEA PS range, as I may have ranted about before, is fantastic. So fantastic, in fact, that it often sells out. Virtually all of their range, which is ever-growing, is fantastic. True design, not your run-of-the-mill IKEA Billy—so snap it up if you can.
I have always believed that one day, ‘vintage’ IKEA will become highly collectible. Many pieces of vintage furniture that are now highly sought after and command high prices were originally designed for the masses. Eames fibreglass chairs, for example, were mass-produced, along with many other Eames products - they were pioneers of mass-produced yet stylish furniture. Paul McCobb, an American designer, prolific in the 1950s, designed a range of knock-down, modular, low-cost furniture ‘for the people’, called ‘The Planner Group,’ which now commands huge prices (I wish I hadn’t sold mine for peanuts!). Mark my words—recycle that Billy Bookcase but hang onto your PS stuff!
I will close by saying that I recently had the pleasure of visiting a '24 Million Dollar' property decked out in the most prestigious of all international big-ticket brands. The interior designer however was brave enough to pair a couple of PS IKEA cabinets (retailing for under $100 each) with a B&B Italia sofa worth roughly $20,000. How’s that for High/Low!
It takes guts to recognise good design at any price point. Don’t be afraid to see things for what they are and not what they cost. End of sermon.
