IKEA POÄNG chair review – Eternally chic?

One of IKEA’s consistently most popular products, the POÄNG series recently celebrated its 46th year, and it doesn’t look a day over 30!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. History
2. Technical details
3. Slipcoverability
4. Our review

History

According to IKEA, the chair was designed by designers Noboru Nakamura and Lars Engman and was introduced in 1977. Originally named POEM, it was renamed to “POÄNG” in the 90s – presumably because “Poäng” sounds like “boing”? We can only wonder.

Learn how to pronounce “Poäng” and other interesting IKEA product names!

Since it was launched, more than 30 million units have been sold worldwide. You probably know someone who has the chair in their home, or have one yourself.

While the IKEA Poäng chair has become iconic in its own right, we can’t help but think that it has cast a shadow over its predecessor, Alvar Aalto’s Lounge Chair 406, which features the very same curving wooden frame. The Lounge Chair 406 doesn’t have a cushioned seat, but a sturdy linen webbing instead. Oh, let’s not forget the mind-boggling price tag of US$2494, which is about 8 times the price of a Poäng, (US$99-179).

 The Lounge Chair 406 was designed in 1939, predating the POÄNG by almost 40 years.

Technical details

1. Chair

The Poäng armchair starts with the frame. The basic model is simply the curved wood veneer frame, currently available in the chair or rocking chair style.

The Poäng cushion dimensions are pretty much all the same and are interchangeable on the frames for the chair and rocker.

Covers for the rocking chair are currently available in:

• Hillared (anthracite, beige, dark blue)
• Knisa (black, light beige)
• Skiftebo (dark grey, yellow)
• Storudden (white/black)
• Glose (dark brown, off-white)

Get Poang slipcovers here

Covers for the armchair are currently available in:

• Hillared (anthracite, beige, dark blue)
• Knisa (black, light beige)
• Skiftebo (dark grey, yellow)
• Storudden (white/black)
• Glose (dark brown, off-white)

2. Footstool (known as the Ottoman in the USA)

Similar to the chair, the Poäng footstool starts with the frame first, and the cushion top varies.

Covers for the footstool are currently available in:

• Hillared (anthracite, beige, dark blue)
• Knisa (black, light beige)
• Skiftebo (dark grey, yellow)
• Storudden (white/black)
• Glose (dark brown, off-white)

Get slipcovers for your footstool here!

3. Children’s Armchair

It’s exactly the same as the armchair, only smaller! There is only one cushion type for the children’s armchair, which is similar to what we’re referring to as the attached neck cushion, but a few cheerful options for fabric covers.

Covers for the children’s armchair are currently available in:

• Medskog dinosaur pattern
• Knisa light beige

Side note: IKEA also offers a very similar chair called the PELLO. Unless you’re scrutinising both chairs side by side, it’s very difficult to differentiate the Pello, but the main difference is that the Pello’s arms are almost perpendicular to the backrest, whereas the Poäng’s curve upwards to meet the backrest.

Slipcoverability

Status: Covers are still available from IKEA.

Slipcover: Custom Poäng slipcovers for certain cushion types are available at Comfort Works.

Furniture measurements:

• Chair: 68 x 82 x 100 cm
• Footstool: 68 x 54 x 39cm
• Children’s armchair: 47 x 56 x 68cm

Our Review

Aesthetics: 7/10. When polling other people, there seem to be mixed opinions. The bare frame, composed of layer-glued wood veneer seems to give the chair a harsh, bare-bones overall look, compared to many traditional armchairs.

Comfort: 5/10. The cushion itself is passable, definitely not something you’d want to sink into considering there is only about 6cm of padding between you and the wooden frame.

Durability: 9/10. There is a reason every IKEA store has one of those plexiglas boxes, proudly displaying a 10-year warranty on the chair undergoing a pneumatic “stress test”. The test is supposed to simulate a lifetime use of an “average” adult repeatedly sitting and getting up. While we’ve never heard of anyone breaking the IKEA Poäng chair, before, I’d say that it has a great lifespan structurally. Stylistically, you’re likely to get bored of looking at it after a few years.

Price: Prices start from US$99 for the chair with a basic cushion and go up to US$289 in the quilted leather cushions. The starting price is still pretty tempting though!

Average score: 7.5/10

If you want to dress your old Poäng armchair with new slipcovers in a wide variety of fabrics, we make slipcovers that fit the versions with the attached neck cushion, stand alone neck cushion, as well as the footstool. If you aren’t sure which version you have, feel free to contact us!

Explore the Poäng series