LÖVBACKEN coffee table, blue, 77x39 cm

An old friend lost, and found

When the LÖVET coffee table was launched in the 1956 IKEA catalogue, it was one of the first few self -assembly products in the IKEA range, and these products started a practice that is still a part of the IKEA model. LÖVET remained in the IKEA catalogue until 1962, and then took a long break until 2013.

A decision was made to recreate several pieces of classic furniture from the 1950s and ’60s, including the iconic LÖVET table. The aim was to produce a table as close to the original as possible, but no one knew where the old drawings were. Glenn Berndtsson and his colleagues went to the IKEA historical archive and collection and found an original table.

“That way we could establish the right shape, weigh the table and photocopy the legs to prepare for production,” says Glenn. Another important difference with the reproduced coffee table was that IKEA no longer used jacaranda, a tropical wood species that, today, has to be protected from logging. So Glenn and his colleagues chose more sustainable species.