A collection with a new home

Museum of Furniture Studies grew out of Kersti Sandin and Lars Bülow’s long-standing interest in furniture and design. Over many years, the Swedish architects and designers built a private collection that came to include more than 1,200 pieces by over 400 designers and architects from around the world.

In 2017, they opened Museum of Furniture Studies in Stockholm. Their idea was to make the collection available for study and to give students and young professionals in architecture, design and crafts the opportunity to experience furniture up close. Looking at how something is constructed, feeling the material and seeing the proportions in real life can tell you things that a photograph cannot.

In August 2024, IKEA Älmhult acquired Museum of Furniture Studies with the intention of continuing the work Sandin and Bülow had started. The collection is now moving to Älmhult, where it will once again become accessible to the public.

Småland has a long tradition of furniture making, and Älmhult has played its own part in the development of Swedish furniture design. Today, IKEA Museum is also located here, telling the story of IKEA and its roots in the region.

In Älmhult, Museum of Furniture Studies will continue as an independent institution. The collection remains central, but the new museum will have a broader scope, connecting furniture design history with the contemporary design scene and giving future designers a platform for their work and ideas.

For Sandin and Bülow, the collection began with a belief that furniture needs to be encountered in real life to be fully understood. In its new home, that idea remains.