Editing IKEA (section)

===Furniture and homeware===
[[File:Assembling an Ikea poäng chair (9055631329).jpg|thumb|A man assembling an IKEA [[Poäng]] chair]]

Rather than being sold pre-assembled, much of IKEA's furniture is designed to be [[Ready-to-assemble furniture|assembled by the customer]]. The company claims that this helps reduce costs and use of packaging by not shipping air; the volume of a bookcase, for example, is considerably less if it is shipped unassembled rather than assembled. This is also more practical for European customers using public transport, because flat packs can be more easily carried.

IKEA contends that it has been a pioneering force in [[sustainability|sustainable approach]]es to [[Consumerism|mass consumer culture]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ikea.com/ms/en_CA/pdf/sustainability_report/group_approach_sustainability_fy11.pdf |title=The IKEA Group approach to sustainability (2011) |access-date=25 July 2017 |archive-date=19 August 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819181549/https://www.ikea.com/ca/en/files/pdf/d6/90/d6905036/ikea_group_sustainability_report_fy17.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> Kamprad calls this "democratic design", meaning that the company applies an integrated approach to manufacturing and design (see also [[environmental design]]). In response to the [[explosion of human population]] and material expectations in the 20th and 21st centuries, the company implements [[economies of scale]], capturing material streams and creating manufacturing processes that hold costs and resource use down, such as the extensive use of [[medium-density fibreboard]] ("MDF"), also called "particle board".

Notable items of IKEA furniture include the [[Poäng]] armchair, the [[Billy (bookcase)|Billy]] bookcase and the [[Klippan (sofa)|Klippan]] sofa, all of which have sold by the tens of millions since the late 1970s and early 1980s.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.businessinsider.com/most-popular-ikea-products-2016-9/#2-the-poaeng-chair-sells-15-million-units-a-year-11|title=The 12 most popular IKEA products of all time|work=Business Insider|access-date=2 October 2017|archive-date=4 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200604121815/https://www.businessinsider.com/most-popular-ikea-products-2016-9#2-the-poaeng-chair-sells-15-million-units-a-year-11|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/12/t-magazine/design/ikea-forever.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220103/https://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/12/t-magazine/design/ikea-forever.html |archive-date=3 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Ikea Forever|last=Fortini|first=Amanda|date=12 September 2016|work=The New York Times|access-date=2 October 2017|issn=0362-4331}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

The IKEA and LEGO brands teamed up to create a range of simple storage solutions for children and adults.<ref>{{cite web|date=1 September 2020|title=IKEA x LEGO Collaboration Releases Storage Boxes That Are Also Toys|url=https://mymodernmet.com/ikea-lego-storage-boxes-bygglek/|access-date=26 November 2020|website=My Modern Met|archive-date=27 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200927170519/https://mymodernmet.com/ikea-lego-storage-boxes-bygglek/|url-status=live}}</ref>

====Furniture and product naming====
IKEA products are identified by one-word (occasionally, two-word) names, predominantly in the [[Swedish language]] (or otherwise [[Scandinavia]]n in origin). With few exceptions, most product names are based on a special naming system developed by the company.<ref>{{cite web|title=The IKEA Dictionary|url=http://lar5.com/ikea/index.html|author=Lars Petrus|access-date=27 December 2013|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112024552/https://lar5.com/ikea/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The company founder Kamprad was [[dyslexic]], and found that naming the furniture with proper names and words, rather than a long product code, made the products easier to identify and remember.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/feb/04/shopping.retail|work=The Guardian|location=London|title=Do you speak Ikea?|first=Jon|last=Henley|date=4 February 2008|access-date=5 May 2010|archive-date=12 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112041019/http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2008/feb/04/shopping.retail|url-status=live}}</ref> Products are usually named after locations in Scandinavian countries, using names of places in Sweden for sofas and coffee tables, Denmark for textiles, and Norway for beds. Lamps get their names from seas and lakes, while outdoor furniture is named after islands.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bjarnestam |first=Eva Atle |title=IKEA. Design och identitet |publisher=drängahuset Handelsbolag |year=2009 |isbn=9789151937403 |pages=209 |language=Swedish}}</ref>

A number of IKEA's products bearing Swedish names have (or have had) pronunciations that are humorous to some and [[Brand blunder|offensive to others]] (but no less "[[Language barrier|lost-in-translation]]"), by not only English-speakers but speakers of many different languages. At times, this product-identification has resulted in certain names being changed, or withdrawn completely from certain markets. More often than not, this confusion is simply a result of the Swedish language not being executed correctly, let alone understood, by the reader; nonetheless, this has resulted in potentially "naughty"—or even gravely offensive—connotations, depending on the area in question. Notable examples (for English-speakers) include a since-discontinued (2013) computer desk called ''jerker'' (referring to "the jerks" or "jerks"), a foliar plant spray called ''fukta'' ("moisten"), a [[workbench]] called ''fartfull'' ("speedy", "quick"),<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20060208123705/http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_200408/ai_n12556896 'Fartfull' workbench, 'Jerker' desk: Is Ikea hiding a grin?] ''[[Chicago Sun-Times]],'' 17 August 2004</ref> and a table called ''lyckhem'' (pronounced roughly as "''look-em''"), meaning "bliss" or a "happy home".

Due to several products being named after real places, some locales have ended-up sharing names with objects considered generally unpleasant, such as a [[toilet brush]] being named after the lake of [[Bolmen]], or a [[trash can|rubbish bin]] named after the Norwegian village of [[Tofte, Norway|Tofte]]. In November 2021, VisitSweden.com launched a [[Joke|jocular]] campaign named "Discover the Originals", which invited tourists to visit the physical locations which have received such unfortunate associations with IKEA products.<ref>{{cite web |author=Leslie Katz |url=https://www.cnet.com/news/sweden-reclaims-ikea-product-names-bolmen-more-than-a-toilet-brush/ |title=Sweden reclaims Ikea product names: 'Bolmen, more than a toilet brush' |publisher=CNET |date=10 December 2021 |access-date=25 February 2022 |archive-date=20 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220134613/https://www.cnet.com/news/sweden-reclaims-ikea-product-names-bolmen-more-than-a-toilet-brush/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web  |url=https://kottke.org/21/12/lake-toiletbrush-and-the-curse-of-ikeas-product-names |title=Lake Toiletbrush and the Curse of Ikea's Product Names |publisher=Kottke.org |date=20 December 2021 |access-date=25 February 2022 |archive-date=23 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220123101621/https://kottke.org/21/12/lake-toiletbrush-and-the-curse-of-ikeas-product-names |url-status=live }}</ref>