According to Publishers Weekly's The Beat, home-furnishings superstore IKEA will soon be offering a line of manga-themed textiles designed by a Swedish artist named Åsa Ekström. The images will feature manga-esque images of both Swedish stuff (folk costumes, etc.) and Japanese stuff (think Yakuza tattoos and Godzilla).

Yeah... not sold on this idea. It's cute, but if you're going for a manga-inspired look, it's pretty easy to find something cooler than IKEA's generic take on the subject. I'd start by checking Etsy.com, which offers a variety of Japanese-themed goods ranging from this to this.

Labels: Furniture, manga

Salon recently posted a very interesting Spiegel article about a tell-all book by Johan Stenebo, a former Ikea bigwig with quite the axe to grind. Sadly, I don't read Swedish and I have no idea how many of Mr. Stenebo's claims are valid, but the book sounds like hot stuff....

Labels: Furniture, Nonfiction

By the end of the month, I'm hoping to have realized a life-long dream: a real, grown-up library. After spending the past year remodeling my house, I finally have the space... but, sadly, my library-to-be is currently an empty room with a massive, uncovered window and about an acre of un-sanded wood floor. We still have several weeks' worth of work to do, not to mention figuring out a way to finagle things like, oh, bookshelves without breaking the bank.

But if money was no object (and I could convince my cat not to immediately throw up on it), I would totally buy this:


I have a sneaking suspicion it wouldn't actually be that comfortable, but all that orange squashiness speaks to my very soul.

Labels: Furniture, Library news