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    [OC] Die Farbe von IKEA-Sofas im Laufe der Zeit


    Ich habe mich gefragt, ob Möbel im Laufe der Jahre tatsächlich weniger farbenfroh geworden sind. Also habe ich die Farben der 3500 Sofas in den IKEA-Katalogen von 1960 bis 2021 (als der Katalog eingestellt wurde) von Hand gezählt.

    Es gab definitiv einfachere Möglichkeiten, dies zu tun, aber ich hätte nicht gedacht, dass ich mich jemals hinsetzen würde, um jeden IKEA-Katalog unter anderen Umständen durchzublättern, und ich dachte, es würde faszinierend sein.

    Um die Zählung durchzuführen, habe ich a vibecodiert "Zählmaschine" mit Claude, wodurch ich die Farbe jedes Sofas, das ich pro Jahr gesehen habe, eintragen konnte (grün, grün, grau, schwarz, grün usw.). Das Bild selbst wurde in Illustrator erstellt.

    Von t0on

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    18 Kommentare

    1. t0on on

      Here the text I wrote along with the piece for the European Correspondent:

      *I’m moving apartments. As I was packing up, I found myself looking at my grey IKEA couch: the L-shaped one that can be turned into a bed. Why did I buy such a drab sofa? The contrast with the lively Art nouveau apartment I was leaving felt sobering. For years, interior design had felt like watching black-and-white TV.*

      *I vowed to bring colour into my new place, and asked myself: where did all the colour go?*

      *To find out what happened to our European living rooms, I tallied the colour of every couch in IKEA’s (now discontinued) catalogues from 1960 to 2021. 3,500 couches later, I have confirmed my suspicions.*

      *Of course, there was a faster and smarter way to do it. But I grew up leafing through IKEA catalogues, and I miss them. Not knowing when I’d next have the chance to go through IKEA’s entire archive, I committed to the bit. Aside from the mind-boggling designs of the late 1960s and early 1970s, IKEA offers a unique view of how ordinary people furnished their homes over the decades.*

      *Sadly, our interiors did indeed become less colourful, and increasingly grey, in the 2010s. But if we can learn anything from the beige 1980s, it’s that the 1990s embraced colourful patterns like never before. And judging by the fact that IKEA is reviving* [*long-forgotten designs*](https://www.ikea.com/be/en/cat/nytillverkad-collection-62094/) *from decades past (I saw the originals!), our grey days may be numbered.*

    4. _Alphabetus_ on

      The data doesn’t actually support the claims being made. It only shows the most popular color, nothing more, nothing less. That alone isn’t enough to conclude that furniture losts its color or that grey is inherently more likely to be chosen.

      Simple example:
      – Year 1: Red (50%), Grey (45%), White (5%)
      – Year 2: Grey (40%), Blue (30%), Green (30%)

      Just because grey dominates in Year 2 doesn’t mean sofas are less colorful now (they are more) or that grey is more likely now (it is less). The data simply doesn’t say that.

    7. thepokemonGOAT on

      Same with offices. There used to be a lot of color in the filing cabinets, chairs, desks etc – im talking bright red, green, blue etc…. Now everything looks like a prison 

    11. Impossible_Ad9831 on

      Everything has lost its color. People don’t want to look gay. It’s so stupid. My boss gave me a bag the other day “I know you like color 😉”, or other people “you’re creative, colorful”. Ugh. I go visit my family and they’re all dressed for a funeral. A sea of black, grey and white

    12. notthatcreative777 on

      I have a green ikea couch purchased recently. Not sure what this means

    14. existentialgoof on

      The Internet has precipitated a seachange in culture which has seen everything become drab and homogeneous. Both literally and metaphorically, the man made world has lost its colour. It really reflects the zeitgeist of the times in which we are living.

    15. Lekstil on

      Great post. Don’t take the top comment too seriously, I don’t understand why people here are always so overly critical. Your graphic is informative. Does it contain all possible information? No of course not. Is it still okay to use a title that catches people’s attention? Yes it is. That doesn’t make this clickbait or disinformation.

    16. Krogsly on

      I would be interested to know the percentage of sales that go to short term rentals. Places like IKEA and Wayfair are very popular for furnishing rental properties, and short term rentals work best with neutral, inoffensive color schemes

    18. xxCorsicoxx on

      P: her IKEA why are there only grey, white and beige pieces available?
      I: our data shows that’s what most people buy
      P: what’s that based on?
      I: our sales numbers
      P: but you only sell g,w,b
      I: yes
      P: what if someone doesn’t want g,w,b ?
      I: they would buy whatever color they want
      P: do you have anything that isn’t g,w,b?
      I: no cos nobody buys it
      P: how would they buy it if you don’t sell it?
      I: if they really want it they can buy
      P: so do you sell it?
      I: no, our data shows there’s no interest for it
      P: but if track what sells, how would you see interest for it?
      I: the data would show it
      P: but you don’t sell it
      I: no cos the data shows there’s no interest for it

      Etc etc etc

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