The Furniture District

Värnamo is the home of classic designers such as Bruno Mathsson and Källemo. Bruno Mathsson is one of the brightest talents when it comes to Swedish furniture designs in the 1900s. His home and first glass house is located in the middle of Värnamo which now houses an exhibition with Mathsson’s furniture. You can also see the office and studio in which Bruno Mathsson worked. Guided tours are offered for groups throughout the year.

At Källemo you can see Bohlin’s steel-concrete chair ‘Concrete’ that amazed people. Was this art or furniture design? Or the rubber chair ‘Non’ that was brought to attention because it was lying up-side-down in an aquarium. To try out and really experience the design classics, you can stay the night at Scandic Värnamo which is known as the design hotel. Just outside Värnamo, the art and design museum Vandalorum is located.

Älmhult in southern Småland is the home of IKEA – here the first ever store opened in 1958, and today the original building houses the world’s only IKEA Museum. The main exhibition at the museum is divided into three themes: Our Roots, Our Story and Your Stories. Take a closer look at the everyday life in the 19th century Småland, find out more about Ingvar Kamprad’s childhood, and the 20th century transformation of Swedish society. See how the designs changed throughout the decades. IKEA Museum also has a shop and a restaurant, where they serve the famous meatballs with a twist. Just outside Älmhult, in Diö, Sweden’s oldest furniture factory is located – Gemlamöbler. Here beech and ash are tamed into timeless furniture by skilled craftsmen who know which way the wood likes to bend.