IKEA has been around since the 1940s, and its products carry names today that were created by its founder, Ingvar Kamprad. It turns out that he was dyslexic and had trouble remembering numerical product codes, so gave the products names that he could easily visualize and memorize without difficulty. Some categories relate to the products themselves, while others are a bit tongue-in-cheek. Here are a list of products and their naming conventions:
- • Bathroom items: Names of Swedish lakes and bodies of water
- • Linens: Flowers and plants
- • Bedroom and Living Room Furniture: Norwegian places
- • Bookcases: Professions and Scandinavian boy’s names
- • Bowls and Vases: Swedish place names, adjectives, spices, herbs, fruits, and berries
- • Boxes, Pictures, and Wall Decorations: Swedish slang expressions and Swedish place names
- • Children’s Products: Mammals, birds, adjectives
- • Desks and Chairs: Scandinavian boy’s names
- • Fabrics and Curtains: Scandinavian girl’s names
- • Outdoor Furniture: Scandinavian islands
- • Kitchen Accessories: Fish, mushrooms and adjectives
- • Lighting: Units of measurement, seasons, months, days, shipping and nautical terms, Swedish place names
- • Rugs: Danish place names
- • Sofas, Chairs and Dining Sets: Swedish place names
