IKEA Launches Wireless Charging Furniture

I can’t even begin to tell you all how excited I am about this huge news! IKEA has launched a range of furniture that is designed with integrated wireless charging points in it. Granted this is not the newest technology around, but what makes this announcement so exciting is the fact that the majority of us will actually be able to afford it. I don’t know about you but I absolutely hate cable mess and I dream of the day when wireless electricity is something that is commonplace in our homes. All appliances should just work without the need to be plugged in at all times. It would look so much nicer in our homes if we didn’t have that cluttered mass of cables trailing all over the place and presenting dangerous trip hazards. And phone chargers are some of the most annoying I find because we use them so often. I have mine plugged in beside my bed so that I can recharge my phone overnight. But sometimes the battery runs low before I go to bed and it’s a bit of a hassle to start moving the charger round the house. That’s how things get misplaced, right? But now with this amazing new range from IKEA relocating chargers will be a thing of the past!

IKEA understands that people use their smart phones all over their homes and places of work and they want the flexibility to be able to charge them wherever they are, and preferably without cables. So they decided that there was only one thing for it and that was to make furniture into wireless charging spots. Now there is a collection of side tables and lamps that can be used all around the home with the added benefit of wirelessly charging your phone. The collection currently contains two bedside tables, (which can actually be used in any room and not just the bedroom) a floor lamp, a table lamp and a work lamp. So actually the range is a little limited for the time being but it’s a great start nonetheless. Whilst I’m not a massive fan of the look of the floor lamp and table lamp, this doesn’t put me off in the slightest and I would still definitely consider investing in them purely for the charging capabilities.

I really like the fact they can be so close at hand and you can easily have a charging point in every room if you so desire. And the design is so simple and well executed. There is a small plus sign that indicates where the phone should be placed in order to start the charging process and other than that you wouldn’t know that it’s anything other than an ordinary piece of furniture just by looking at it. I was also impressed to see that all the pieces come fitted with an additional usb port so you can charge other devices at the same time.

With the help of our wireless chargers, we make charging easy, fun and convenient, by turning furniture into charging spots. We enable convenient charging throughout the home, designed for your personal needs. At the same time, we make homes more beautiful by minimizing the use of cables. Nobody like cables, yet everyone wants a fully functional home. With our wireless chargers, it’s possible to have both.

Björn Block, IKEA Range Manager for Lighting and Wireless Charging

I’m already longing for one of the bedside tables for my bedroom and I’ll probably opt for the one above which is the Nordli bedside table. Its compact size is great for small rooms where space is a premium and I really like the fact that the cable to the electricity supply is neatly hidden in a groove down the leg of the table. IKEA really does think of everything. If I’m really lucky I might have enough room for one either side of the bed but that would mean replacing my IKEA PS 2014 Side table with lighting but that is a small price to pay (quite literally!) Fingers crossed I can squeeze them in. But if I can’t all is not lost.

IKEA will also offer a couple of charging pads that are standalone units and not built into any furniture pieces. These offer flexibility and convenience as mobile devices can be charged at various locations around the home. I really like the idea of having one of these in the kitchen as I often follow recipes on my phone and it would be great to have the opportunity to charge my phone while doing so.

Designer David Wahl explains his thinking behind the charging pads:

I wanted them to blend in easily in the home, but it’s equally important that the pads are easy to use. The result is a charging pad with a simple yet interesting design, that can be used in many places across the home.

The NORDMÄRKE single charging pad is available in white or birch and also has a usb port for charging extra devices. However, if you often have more than one device to charge at a time, the collection also features a triple pad which is ideal for larger families or office environments. It can charge four devices simultaneously when the usb port is used as well.This would be perfect for use in a high traffic location like a hallway for example. It works in perfect unison with the ROMMA Cable Management Box which allows all cables to be safely hidden out of sight.

Besides wireless charging furniture and the standalone charging pads, IKEA is also offering a wireless charger that you can build into furniture yourself. It is called JYSSEN and it lets you create a wireless charger that can be embedded into your favourite piece of furniture, a shelf, a kitchen worktop or just about anywhere that feels like a handy spot for a charger. In order to help you do this, IKEA will be selling the FIXA 5-piece hole saw set so drilling a hole in your treasured piece of furniture to accommodate the JYSSEN couldn’t be simpler. However,if the process of fitting one seems a bit daunting, it’s good to know that JYSSEN can also be added to the cable tidy hole of IKEA’s MICKE and STUVA desks. Again, you see how they have thought of everything here?

So what is the catch? It’s not the price as all the pieces will be retailing for between £6 and £85. It’s not the design as this attains the high standards that we have come to expect from the Swedish retailer. The limiting factor seems to be what smartphone you have and whether it is enabled for wireless charging. Apparently phones will have to support the wireless charging standard (QI) in order to be charged wirelessly. If they don’t they will require a special cover and luckily IKEA will also sell a selection of wireless charging covers for iPhone 4, 5/5S, 6 and Samsung Galaxy S3, S4 and S5 which will make these phones compatible with wireless charging.

What excites me most about all this is not the current range, which will be available in stores from April 2015 by the way, but the endless possibilities for the future. What will IKEA integrate wireless charging spots into next? The arm of the sofa, the coffee table, the chest of drawers? It’s all possible, I guess it’s just a matter of when!

So what do you think? Are you as excited about the prospect of wireless charging furniture as I am? And what do you think of the designs?