Hello friends and welcome to a new week with me and my columnists here on decor8. I hope you are doing well! I thought I'd kick things off by telling you about the new IKEA Paper Shop that recently launched here in Europe in select stores and if all goes well, the concept may spread to all stores eventually. Kollo put together a range of paper products to include giftbags, giftwrap, paper clips, boxes, notebooks, cards, etc. and they designed the section of the store where these products would be on display with a focus on bright patterns and colors placing the department in the market hall section on the lower level. So far in Britain and Sweden it has gained attention and they're hoping it will catch on and spread to all IKEA stores. I think the idea is GREAT - definitely. I already see the products on the German IKEA website and in stores over here, so it seems to be catching on. Is it in your country yet, too?

The products look nice BUT (and I hate to be critical) I really don't feel a connection like I wish I did - the collections do not feel that cohesive with the exception of the palettes - black/white, green, blue and pink. I'm not keen on Victorian motifs sprinkled throughout each collection because they don't feel fresh to me, but I do think that over time that this collection has enormous potential to evolve and become something great. I have an entire concept that I think would work for IKEA so if anyone wants to hire me I can tell you exactly what would set this paper shop on fire (in a good way!) :) But for IKEA this is a great start and I'm happy to learn about this! I do love the effort, the possibilies and of course some of the products like the boxes, tapes and giftwrap I would definitely buy now. In fact, I've cut and pasted my favorite products below for you to see.

I like some of the SÄRSKILD stuff,  HISTORISK number tags and these tags too, and I really like the cute DATERAD patterns - especially their bags. The VÄLBEKANT note blocks are cute too! I think my favorite collection though is the FRAMSTÄLLA series. It really speaks to me with the dots and stripes! I adore these boxes, I could really use them!

What do you think of this concept and these products? Do you like it? Do you like the products?

(images: mobilia artica, maedchenwahn and Inter IKEA Systems B.V. 2013 and Kollo)