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RetailRetail

IKEA Wants You to Hack This ‘Open Source’ Sofa

By
Julia Zorthian
Julia Zorthian
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By
Julia Zorthian
Julia Zorthian
Down Arrow Button Icon
January 30, 2017, 12:54 PM ET
ikea open source sofa furniture hack
The logo of IKEA is pictured at the Europe's biggest Ikea store in Kungens Kurva, south-west of Stockholm on March 30, 2016.Photograph by Jonathan Nackstrand—AFP/Getty Images

IKEA is embracing the burgeoning culture of hacking its furniture by making a sofa that’s meant to be customized.

People can customize the Swedish retailer’s new furniture piece to fit spaces of various sizes or to accommodate different needs by attaching side tables or other accessories. The sofa’s name will be Delaktig, which means “being part of something” in Swedish, the Wall Street Journal reports.

IKEA has made efforts to create furniture for people living in increasingly small, urban spaces, and a customizable sofa marks the next step forward. The sofa will come as a seat on a simple aluminum base, with “snap-on” additions like seats or armrests.

The open source concept means that third-party designers and manufacturers can create more elaborate add-ons for the furniture, such as privacy screens or different lamps. IKEA already led a workshop at London’s Royal College of Art, where designers worked on ideas for ways to add to the couch.

[WSJ]

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By Julia Zorthian
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