By Andrea McVeigh
Grattis på födelsedagen IKEA! That’s Swedish for ‘happy birthday IKEA’ (we think!). The iconic Scandi brand celebrates it’s 21st birthday in the UK this year, and even though it’s only been open in Belfast since December, we can’t remember a time without it.
We love it’s contemporary stylings and novel take on tradition, even though we can’t get our heads around most of the tongue-twisting product names. And we’re planning lazy summer days lounging around on the fab new range of summer items that hit the mega-store at Holywood Exchange this month (you can find most of the garden goodies in the Marketplace, down by the tills). We especially love the new Gunvor retro-style fabric range. The name may sound like a particularly potent brand of vodka, but it certainly does raise our spirits.
New trends in-store include all-white, in cushions, sofa covers, throws, blankets and rugs, plus retro-style textiles. For the garden, look out for the Kvarno sunbed, Sommar outdoor cushions and the Greno hammock. Now, if we can just get the weather to go with these new goodies, we’ll be dancing around the garden like Abba after one too many Kopparbergs.