I wasn’t sure what to expect from an exhibition about IKEA, a brand I associate with the Billy bookcase, flatpack wardrobes and meatballs, but any uncertainty I may have had was promptly alleviated. IKEA: Magical Patterns at the Dovecot Studios until 17 January 2026 is an expansive yet in-depth portrayal of the brand’s 60-year-long career.
Originally opened in the IKEA Museum in Älmhult, Sweden, the Dovecot Studios are honoured as the first home in the UK to display this exhibition of textiles. The exhibition begins with a historical overview of how Ingvar Kamprad, the company’s founder, started IKEA from his family’s shed in the 1940s. Organised across two large, open-plan rooms, you are transported into a sea of fabrics as they overlap each other, hanging from the ceiling and across all the walls. This experience is immersive and interactive as you walk between cylindrical installations of fabrics – likened to the organisation of an IKEA store .
Of course, an IKEA exhibition would not be complete without a showroom. Visitors are invited to sit in a small living room, decorated with IKEA products, where they may discover yet more information through the medium of a tablet. This decision meant that the exhibition space would not be overwhelmed by text, further encouraging viewers to focus on the showcased patterns and fabrics.
It was clear through this exhibition that female designers and artists have been championed by IKEA from the start. Notably, the iconic striped banana pattern, RANDIG BANAN, by Inez Svensson, the framed original concept design of bananas cut out and taped on top of striped paper, paralleled by the designed fabric hanging next to it. Inez Svensson became so associated with her RANDIG BANAN that the iconic pattern was draped over her coffin when she died in 2005.
It is not possible to leave this exhibition without being uplifted by the infectious, quirky, vibrant patterns and history of such an iconic brand.
All images are courtesy of Dovecot Studios for press use