Ikea’s New Inflatable Chair Is Surprisingly Comfortable—And Extremely Light

IKEA launches its new PS Collection on May 13,

but it's this stylish $200 inflatable armchair

that's blowing up online.

The PS 2026 Easy Chair in development

for 12 years weighs just eight kilograms around 18 pounds,

thanks to its tubular frame and air interior.

What's more, the box it deflates down into

is just six inches thick, so you can buy one

and then carry it home under your arm.

Ikea's global Design manager told me

that prototypes were made using tractor inner tubes

before they struck upon the idea

of a dual chamber seat, one outer air section,

and then one central air section makes home adjustment

a breeze, depending of course on how much you fill it up

with the supplied foot pump.

A fiber layer sits on top of the inflatable seat

under the fabric, which not only adds

to the chair's comfort, and it really is comfortable,

but mercifully stops any uncomfortable plastic sweatiness.

It is comfortable.

It's surprisingly comfortable.

But all of you cat owners out there will know exactly

what happens when their pets are left alone

with a good chair.

It miraculously morphs into scratching post Nirvana.

Well, considering this armchair is effectively a balloon,

IKEA also drafted in cats to road test this one.

Ikea has been here before, though.

In 2000, the brand brought out its ill-fated

A.I.R. collection, designed to be inflated

at home using only a hairdryer,

they leaked and made unseemly farting

noises when you sat down.

This time, it looks like the Swedish company has finally

nailed it and isn't stopping with the chair either,

because there may be a blowup sofa on its way too.

As IKEA's design chief says, much like the cat testers,

they've only just scratched the surface here.