When the Person Who Designs IKEA's Products Shops at IKEA
There is no better endorsement for a product than learning that the person responsible for creating it actually uses it at home. That logic applies perfectly to Johan Ejdemo, IKEA's head of design, who has revealed the 12 IKEA products that currently live in his own home. For anyone who has ever stood in the middle of a sprawling IKEA showroom wondering which pieces are genuinely worth buying, this insider list is the closest thing to a cheat sheet you will ever find.
Ejdemo's picks span furniture, lighting, textiles, and everyday objects — and together they offer a rare window into how the world's most influential flat-pack design mind actually lives. Spoiler: his all-time favorite is not the iconic Billy bookcase, which should prompt all of us to look a little harder at what IKEA has quietly been getting right for years.
Why the Design Chief's Choices Matter
IKEA sells thousands of products across dozens of categories, and navigating that catalog can feel overwhelming. When a design director personally selects and keeps specific items in their home, it signals something meaningful: these products work not just on a showroom floor under perfect lighting, but in the lived-in, day-to-day reality of an actual household. Ejdemo's selections are not marketing talking points. They are personal choices made by someone who understands the precise gap between a product that looks good on paper and one that holds up over years of real use.
That distinction matters enormously for shoppers. IKEA's value proposition has always been about accessible, functional design, but not every product in the range achieves that balance equally. Knowing which items cleared the bar for the person who sets the standard is genuinely useful information.
The 12 IKEA Products Johan Ejdemo Keeps at Home
While the full details of Ejdemo's selections speak to a broad design sensibility, a few common threads run through his choices. He gravitates toward pieces that combine longevity with simplicity, items that serve a clear purpose without overstating their presence in a room. Below is a look at the kinds of categories his picks represent and what they reveal about smart IKEA shopping.
Furniture That Does Its Job Without Demanding Attention
Several of Ejdemo's selections fall into the category of quietly excellent furniture — pieces that anchor a room without competing with the life being lived around them. This philosophy aligns closely with Scandinavian design principles, where restraint and functionality are considered virtues rather than limitations. Furniture that disappears into its surroundings, becoming useful rather than decorative, tends to age well and adapt to changing tastes over time.
For shoppers, this is a useful lens through which to evaluate any IKEA purchase. The pieces most likely to earn a permanent place in your home are the ones solving a real problem with minimal fuss — not the statement items you feel excited about for a month before they start to feel cluttered.
Lighting That Transforms a Space
Lighting is one of the most underestimated categories in home design, and IKEA has long offered options that punch well above their price point. Ejdemo's lighting choices reflect an understanding that how a room feels is often more important than how it looks in a photograph. The right lamp can make a living room feel intimate, a workspace feel focused, or a bedroom feel genuinely restful. The wrong one can undermine even the most carefully chosen furniture.
If you have overlooked IKEA's lighting range in the past, the design chief's endorsement of specific pieces is a strong reason to take a second look.
Textiles and Everyday Objects Built to Last
Some of the most satisfying IKEA products are the ones you interact with every single day without thinking much about them — a well-weighted throw, a storage solution that keeps a drawer from turning into chaos, a kitchen item that simply works. Ejdemo's list includes selections in these humbler categories, which says something important: great design is not reserved for the expensive or the showstopping. It lives just as often in the objects you reach for without ceremony.
His All-Time Favorite — and Why It Isn't the Billy Bookcase
The Billy bookcase is perhaps the most famous single piece of furniture IKEA has ever produced. It has been sold in staggering numbers across decades, and it remains a reliable, versatile choice for millions of homes worldwide. But Ejdemo's all-time favorite from the IKEA range is something else entirely — a choice that reflects a more personal and perhaps more surprising design affection.
Without overstating the significance of one person's preference, there is something worth noting here: the man who knows the entire IKEA catalog better than almost anyone alive has a different answer to the question of which product he loves most. That suggests the catalog contains more depth and more genuine design achievement than the brand's most famous hits might imply.
What This List Teaches Us About Shopping at IKEA
The broader lesson from Ejdemo's picks is one of intentionality. Rather than filling a home with every appealing item from a showroom walkthrough, his selections point toward buying fewer things that are better suited to how you actually live. Each product he has chosen earns its place through usefulness, durability, or a kind of quiet beauty that improves with familiarity.
That approach is available to any IKEA shopper willing to slow down and ask the right questions before reaching for the cart. Which pieces will still feel right in five years? Which ones are solving a genuine problem rather than an imagined one? Which items would a person who designs for a living trust enough to bring into their own home?
Ejdemo's list answers that last question directly. The rest is up to you.