It’s 25 years since Ikea brought Swedish style to the UK and now even the Prime Minister is a fan. Gabrielle Fagan marvels at the power of one store to shape the look of our homes

WHEN a decor revolution arrived in Britain in the autumn of 1987, it didn’t exactly hog the headlines. Shortly after Ikea opened its first yellow and blue furniture store in the UK in Warrington, Cheshire, we were buffeted by both the Black Monday stock market crash and the Great Storm, in which 18 people died and 15 million trees were uprooted.

Not an auspicious time, perhaps, to introduce us to a new Swedish way of furnishing our homes with weirdly-named products, as well as flatpacks and instructions seemingly designed to test tempers and relationships.

But somehow, after 25 years and 17 further store openings, we’ve learned to love Ikea for its incredibly cheap, but chic, furniture and accessories which have stood the test of time.

There are, of course, the iconic pieces including the best-selling (41 million worldwide) Billy bookcase, which starts at £27; the solid, simple Lack table, from only £8, and the Klippan sofa, £150. The sofa was originally designed by an Ikea product developer who wanted seating with a durable frame and washable covers so it could stand up to punishment from his boisterous children.

Beyond those practical, sturdy best-sellers, which are never allowed to rest on their laurels and are refreshed over the years (the Klippan has got noticeably slimmer and sleeker), Ikea has also given us a vision of how we can live.

As we take the meandering and – to children and impatient partners – infuriatingly long route around a cavernous store, there’s ample time to view simple room sets featuring a pared-back, affordable Skandi aesthetic for living spaces.

That maze-style layout is apparently deliberately designed to encourage shoppers to pick up extra impulse buys, but it certainly shows off Ikea’s versatile range of kit.

There’s no shortage of pieces – only Ikea geeks will know the total number of products is 9,500 – to dress contemporary, streamlined spaces, whether they’re student bedsits or style-conscious family homes.

Even Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, Samantha, went on a shopping spree in Ikea last year to brighten up Downing Street.

And to further confirm its popularity with everyone from world leaders to first-time home-buyers, a survey this year named it as the nation’s favourite shop, beating John Lewis, the previous winner.

To win us over, Ikea has tailored its offering as a specific recipe for UK homes. We have the smallest houses in Europe, so there’s a focus on ever-changing ways to use space, including innovative storage and compact furniture.

But it’s never been afraid to urge us to reform our decor ways. In 1996, the store’s advertising campaign demanded “Chuck out your chintz”, and in 2000 Ikea cheekily urged Brits to “Stop being so English” and adopt a more laid-back, Swedish approach.

It seems that we’re listening, because cleanlined Skandi-style, not just Ikea’s interpretation of it, has never been more popular.

In these tough economic times, when we want to improve our homes rather than move, bargains such as those offered by its stores have rarely been more desirable. IKEA was founded by Ingvar Kamprad when he was only 17.

It started in a shed

It started as a small mail order furniture company based in a shed in a forest in Sweden.

The name Ikea is an acronym of the owner’s initials plus the name of the farm where he grew up, Elmtaryd, and his home village, Agunnaryd.

The strange names of Ikea furniture derive, mostly, from Nordic words. Beds often have Norwegian place names, dining room tables and chairs have Finnish place names, and bathroom items echo the names of Swedish rivers, bays or lakes.

Kamprad is dyslexic and found it easier to remember products by using proper names rather than codes or numbers.

The Ikea catalogue is the world’s most widely distributed publication, said to be more so than the Bible, with 191 million copies printed in 27 different languages. In the UK, 20 million a year are printed.

110,000 UK shoppers a day visit an Ikea store, which adds up to 39,713,000 a year.

The first baby to be named Ikea was born to Linda Dagless, from Norwich, in August 2002.

In 2005, a crowd of 7,000 customers got caught up in a brawl at the opening of a new Ikea store in Edmonton, London.

An estimated six billion Swedish meatballs have been eaten in Ikea restaurants since the store opened in the UK in 1987.

To celebrate Ikea’s anniversary, 25 days of in-store activities will be taking place across the UK until November 4. Visit ikea.co.uk The North- East’s store is in Gateshead.