These Ikea Chairs Are Worth $5,200 and You Might Already Own One
When you think about IKEA, affordable furniture is probably the first thing that comes to mind-which totally makes sense. But collectors are now vying for rare vintage pieces and willing to pay as much as $55,000 for a single chair-seriously. Barneby's, a search engine aggregator that tracks the sales at more than 2,000 auction houses, discovered this surprising trend.
The co-founder of Barnebys, Pontus Silfverstolpe, explained the trend to Daily Mail: "Unlike many of their items today, IKEA's older products were actually made very well and have stood the test of time," he says. "Also many of the examples we have cited were made over a very short period of time, so there aren't many of them around." Meaning unlike most IKEA items you own, you won't find these designs elsewhere.
Interestingly enough, some of the most sought-after items are the ones that sold terribly when they were first released. Others were part of collaborations between IKEA and well-known designers at the time. For instance, these colorful flatpack chairs are the work of futuristic Danish designer Verner Panton. They were worth $65 in 1993 and are now going for more than $1,200 (1stdibs.com).
But that's nothing compared to these "clam" or "mushroom" chairs, which reportedly went for around $55,000 each (bukowskis.com). This design was released just a year after IKEA was founded in 1943, which might explain why it's such a pricy item.
This unique bookshelf and cabinet is a total scene stealer, compared to the BILLY Bookcase, which might be why it went for more than $6,000 (pamono.com).
Meanwhile, these leather and steel chairs designed by Karin Mobring are now worth almost $1,000 and are a mid-century modern lover's dream living room accessory.
But it's not just furniture. This ceramic terrine Nejlika set from the 1990s cost more than $1,200 (bukowskis.com) when sold at auction.
A well preserved pair of these rare IKEA mid-centuruy modern leather lounge chairs are currently on sale for $5,200 at Rejuvenation (rejuvenation.com).
Though these prices may seem shocking to you're standard IKEA shopper, they're proof that great design is more than just functional-it's truly art.
Follow House Beautiful on Instagram.
('You Might Also Like',)
