We all know IKEA. I mean, we probably see a particular shade of yellow and blue and just know. We know that they showcase and sell products in a way that we know how we’ll actually use them, by arranging them in a way that appeals to our visual senses. Instead of us wondering where we can put that preposterous beanbag  that YES I REALLY DO NEED, MA, DON’T ASK QUESTIONS, they’ll show us how perfectly it’ll fit in the corner between the window and the desk, providing the perfect reading space.
We go to IKEA and if we’re [re: I’m] not drinking glass after glass of that glorious lingonberry sparkling water, aka nectar of the Swedish Gods [blasphemy, forgive me actual and only God], we’re pointing at the beautifully black and suave looking kitchen, complete with a cutlery decorated island/ACTUAL LIBRARY and a fake fruit bowl, shrieking “I WANT THAT. THAT’S GOING TO BE MY KITCHEN”. And then it’s the huge bedrooms with a super king-sized bed placed diagonally across a corner [Amazing? Why didn’t I think of that?], with fluffy grey rugs on wood flooring and a vanity mirror slap-bang in the centre and gah.
We’re so used to seeing homes in a condition that we’re familiar with, or a condition that we long to be familiar with. Messy childrens rooms, decent sized bedrooms that look like a neater and better designed version of ours, something totally achievable. We can look at a room and say “lol, mine’s better”. Everything is mostly affordable. We see massive kitchens [like the aforementioned beautiful black room where probably the best steak in the world is made], and we see nothing that is surprising to us.
We don’t see anything that isn’t ‘normal’ to us, and in not being exposed to this in real life [read: not just behind a TV screen, far away from our grasp], it keeps us ignorant as to what may be ‘normal’ to everybody else.
IKEA is probably at the forefront of providing the most normalised setting – the home – to the average person. And it has set out to change this ignorance.
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