5 Things I'd Love To Own From Ire Furniture, Sweden

I'm currently looking for new furniture for my living room. My god, it's hard as hell because so many choices exist. What do you look for when shopping for sofas and chairs? What I really need and love about chairs and sofa has to be comfort combined with beauty. Beauty, for me, is when design is clean and simple and honest materials are used that make you just stop and say, "Wow". Are these traits also important to you?

So many that I've tested while perusing fairs and showrooms are gorgeous to look at BUT horribly uncomfortable to sit on for more than 10-15 minutes, especially unbearable for a cuddle session or to binge watch Netflix with your friends. I'm a sofa person, I rarely use our living room chairs, so I'm definitely more concerned about the comfort of our sofa over the chairs in the same space. Most of the time, our guests end up on large cushions laying on the floor or in the kitchen cooking with me anyway.

I'd like to share with you today a company in Sweden called Ire furniture, which is under the expert eye of Creative Director, Emma Olbers, who was asked to take on this important role in 2016. Because I love comfort and beauty, some of their chairs caught my and eye and definitely their sofas. Today, I'm going to share with you 5 of my personal favorites.

Designer and Creative Director at Ire, Emma Obers

In addition to Ire, designer Emma Olbers has a studio in Stockholm's Södermalm district where she has worked for nearly two decades designing everything with such honest simplicity while simultaneously honoring the environment. Everything she works on for Ire is produced in Sweden in compliance with Swedish laws for emissions.

Agnes, Agda, Eva and Estrid chairs created by Front, Broberg & Ridderstråle, Andreas Engesvik and Emma Olbers for Ire.

Ire also collaborates with other distinguished Scandinavian designers, for instance Andreas Engesvik, Jesper Ståhl, Broberg & Ridderstråle, Carl-Henrik Spak, Mattias Stenberg, Josefine Alpen, Ellinor Eriksson, and design duo Anna Lindgren and Sofia Lagerkvist of Front. In addition to Emma, Mattias Stenberg is another favorite of mine. Maybe you've heard of some of them and follow their work?

Now it's time to show you some of my favorite pieces from Ire. Here are my top 5:

1. ESTRID

One design that launched recently at the Stockholm Furniture Fair was Estrid, designed by  Emma Olbers for Ire. It's such a lovely armchair (shown above) that looks so warm and soft, with its inspiration found in mid century classic armchairs that perhaps your grandfather would sit on, only it was re-imagined with clean lines, a more modern simplicity, lovely silhouette and a touch of elegance.

Estrid is also beautifully handmade, the hallmark of all furniture from Ire, with natural materials and the best part, it's comfortable! The proportions are generous enough to tuck your legs beneath you when you read (like I do) or to invite your little one to share storytime with you (also something I love to do, spend moments with my son).

Estrid chair designed by Emma Obers for Ire

2. AGNES

Agnes is an informal chair designed by Andreas Engesvik that was made to fit a variety of homes, from the urban residence to the beach cottage. The frame is very traditional, however the upholstery looks very relaxed and invites you to do the same. 

Agnes designed by Andreas Engesvik for Ire

3. HANNA CHAIR

I love Hanna's white-pigmented and waxed oak frame silhouette and that you can choose your own fabric cover. I would definitely opt for something in a neutral quilted fabric, linen or vegetable-tanned leather.

Hanna designed by Emma Olbers

4. COMO

Ohhhh the Como... It's a sofa, but here's the end piece shown in this gorgeously dilapidated old home. It consists of four parts which you can combine, a corner part, 1-part without armrest, 1-part armrest left and 1-part armrest right. I love that you can also choose to order it with our without decorative stitching (shown in black below). I'd take that WITH, please. 

Como designed by Mattias Stenberg for Ire

5. HANNA SOFA

I'd love the Hanna sofa for a guest bedroom or a sitting room. Again, that white-pigmented oak frame steals the show for me.

Hanna sofa by Emma Olbers

I love their use of honest materials coupled with such a vast array of colors and fabrics that customers can choose from to create the perfect piece. Customizing is such an important thing, isn't it? I'd never buy a sofa nowadays without some tweak, I'm too particular!

I wish you a lovely day and remember, if you want to see regular content from me multilple times a day, you can visit my Instagram and Instagram Stories because I'm quite active over there. Big hug to you all, so glad to see you are still reading blogs and showing up when I post, it makes me super happy.

Love,

Holly

(Photographs: Ire Furniture, Sweden)