IKEA's new playful PS 2026 collection includes an inflatable chair that you can actually buy

IKEA has unveiled the first pieces from its PS 2026 collection, which includes an inflatable chair and a rocking bench.

As part of its Milan Design Week activities, IKEA has shown off three eye-catching designs that you’ll be able to order from May 14th.

One is an inflatable chair. The second is a wooden rocking bench, the third an unusual and funky-looking bending lamp.

The inflatable chair is perhaps the most eye-catching of the lot, if not the one we’d necessarily stick at the top of our own shopping list. After all, IKEA has published the story of its failed past attempts at inflatable furniture.

This new stab comes from designer, Mikael Axelsson, and it features two large inflatable elements held within a shiny carbon steel frame. It’s apparently inspired by tyres.

“My initial idea was to create a metal frame with a balloon trapped inside. It not only makes it firmer and sturdier, but also gives it a more playful expression, like a balloon bulging out,” says Axelsson.

It uses a manual foot pump, and is designed to fit into pretty much flatpack-format packaging once deconstructed.

Next up is the rocking bench, from designer Marta Krupińska. It’s a clean and minimalist design, apparently inspired by the kind of bench you might sit on while at an event like Oktoberfest.

As IKEA explains, the difficult part with this one was making the bench strong enough to withstand the pressures of movement. Early iterations fell apart under the stress of having multiple people rocking on the thing.

The third PS 2026 item is something we can picture all sort of folks actually picking up. It’s a lamp that bends at two points of articulation, letting it shift from an upright light to a spotlight.

This is a design from Lex Pott, and it comes in three colours: yellow, blue and a rich red.

“I chose a warm, light yellow, which really lights up a space and adds a subtle touch of colour, then cobalt blue, because it's timeless, with a lot of history. Finally, I chose a dark Bordeaux red because it's a more classical, warm tone that is versatile enough to fit with many different ambiences,” says Pott.

The lamp’s frame is steel, which is cut at 45 degrees at the two twist points. “This simple form is no less than an uplighter, spotlight and reading lamp all in one,” is the pitch here.

As these are preview teasers, IKEA hasn’t announced pricing yet, but the whole concept of the PS series is it offers clever design at a “low price.”

The entire 35-strong PS 2026 range will get a full unveil on May 13th, ahead of their release on May 14th.

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