IKEA’s 2013 Catalog Adds Interactivity, Tears Down Walls

Every August, IKEA fans look forward to the thunk of the furniture store's new catalog in their mailbox or doorstep. Those days may be packing up — IKEA US has announced that its 2013 catalog being shipped to homes next month will be pre-released as a digital version on July 31, including relaunching its IKEA Catalog App for smartphone or tablet with a digital twist this year: augmented reality.

As shown in the video above, for the first time you can scan select pages and images in the printed IKEA catalog to access extended content, including 3-D models, image galleries, behind-the-scenes videos, “x-ray” (e.g., peeking behind doors into the interior of cabinets), and interactive features such as adding curtains to a room.

2012 marks the 62st anniversary of the first IKEA catalog. This year, the catalog will be available in 62 printed editions, in 27 languages and in 40 countries/territories. Consumers can request a printed or digital copy of the 2013 catalog at getmy2013catalog.com, as well as sign up for inspirational emails and mobile text messages.

The 2013 catalog is also breaking down walls, literally, by acknowledging that people tend to live in multi-functional spaces. As the press kit notes, "we’ve stopped dividing life at home into rooms. Bedrooms, for example – they’re as varied as the ways people sleep. We’ve taken away our notions of what defined a ‘bedroom’ and replaced them with the idea ‘sleeping.’ We know that some homes don’t have ‘bedrooms’ – they have one 24-hour room where people live and sleep. Life is about activities; not the walls that define where they unfold."

The star of the new catalog is home furnishing textiles, including blankets, curtains, cushions, towels, fabrics, and rugs, as IKEA imagines life without textiles:

“As the Life Improvement Store, we recognize how textiles can make a big difference in every home and for everyone living there,” says Marty Marston, Product Public Relations Manager, IKEA U.S., “from the first soft blanket that kept your newborn warm, to the favorite pillow that you can’t sleep without, textiles transform a living space into a home.”

IKEA’s sustainable textile home furnishing solutions include:

• KAJSMAIA curtains or LAPPLJUNG cushions and MALIN throws and FLOKATI rugs.
• The new GURINE fabric, inspired by nature and flora and the TIDNY fabric that features graphics of a varied cast of characters, places and things and can be custom-colored with fabric pens.
• As an active member of the Better Cotton Initiative, IKEA introduces the PALMLILJA quilt cover and pillowcases made from a blend of lyocell and cotton, and EIVOR FÅGEL cushions filled with leftovers from quilt production that would otherwise be wasted.

As the brand envisions a world without textiles, IKEA customers may soon envision a world without print catalogs, too.