For its 40th birthday, IKEA has created a collection of its most iconic products — and I bet you have at least one of them somewhere in your home

From Billy to Kallax

25 Apr 2026, 20:30 by https://www.techradar.com/uk/author/ruth-hamilton · TechRadar

Features By Ruth Hamilton published 25 April 2026

(Image credit: IKEA / Edited by Gemini)

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IKEA is turning 40, and has marked the occasion by releasing a range of limited-edition merch, embarking on 40 weeks of deals, and adding a 'time machine' to its website.

While I enjoyed discovering what happened when IKEA made its US debut (metric measurements caused chaos, and a load of customers ended up with the wrong-sized kitchen cabinets), and learning the history of the brand's famous meatballs (the earliest version was the result of a delicious "10 months of testing and tasting"), the 40th birthday feature I most enjoyed diving into was IKEA's collection of iconic products.

From Billy bookcases to Kallax shelving units, the Nordic homeware titan has delivered some furniture classics over the decades. And that's before getting into the designs that you'd definitely recognize, but have a name that's too darned Swedish for us to try and pronounce. I'm willing to bet most readers have had a least one of these items in their home at some point.

Scroll down for a whistle-stop tour of the IKEA furniture that has stood the test of time.

Iconic IKEA products

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