A more comfortable outdoor life

At IKEA, we think outdoor furniture should be as comfortable as durable. That’s why we used both traditional and modern technique when we created TEGELÖN. The result was a garden chair that is as soft and inviting as an indoor chair. Perfect if you want to move long dinners parties to the balcony or your green oasis.

There are obvious advantages with materials like plastic, wood and metal in outdoor furniture, but without soft cushions, they are not that pleasant to sit in for a longer time. So, how do you create furniture for balconies and terraces that is as comfortable as the padded furniture we have indoors? Engineer Phuong Thanh Nguyen and the rest of the team behind TEGELÖN found a solution by combining an old handicraft technique with a modern material.

A support for long sittings

TEGELÖN has a seat and back of woven rope. It’s a proven technique used for thousands of years, but often together with rattan or other natural fibre – materials that don’t age particularly well in rain and sunlight. Instead, the team decided to use a rope with a rubber-like core. “It can withstand weather and meets today’s demand on durability and comfort. It’s both maintenance-free and gives good flexibility and support to all body types,” explains Phuong.

No borders between inside and outside

Phuong and the development team tried different ways to braid the rope and realised that it’s most comfortable without any gaps in the weave. “We’re also using an oval instead of a round rope. It’s small details that together make a big difference when you sit down,” he says. “It makes TEGELÖN a chair that can match your indoor furniture in both comfort and style – and the boundary between the inside and the outside becomes a little less obvious.”