The IKEA PS table and wall clock today features in Sweden’s Nationalmuseum’s permanent collections, as an example of tone-setting Swedish design. This is how iconic this small, slightly plump, keyhole-shaped clock, designed by architect and designer Thomas Eriksson, has become.
The clock was part of a design project initiated by IKEA during the first half of the 1990s. IKEA had brought in three strong designer profiles who all represented a modern, minimalist expression: Stefan Ytterborn, Thomas Sandell and Thomas Eriksson. The collection would be a tribute to the traditional Scandinavian style, and was in stark contrast to the more extravagant, kitschy design of the 1980s. The collection was named IKEA PS, as it was a kind of post script to the standard range.
IKEA PS was launched in 1995 at the international furniture fair in Milan, under the heading Democratic Design. These words summed up the ambition to create products of good design, high quality, good function and sustainable production. All at a low price that many people could afford. The collection was very well received.
The clock, which came in several colours and could also be used for small storage, became one of the stars of the collection. Thomas Eriksson had been inspired by the top section of old-fashioned floor clocks, but the expression in the IKEA PS one was modern through and through. It was sold at IKEA until 2005. Nowadays, it is available in the IKEA Museum shop.
