IKEA Canada is celebrating its 50th birthday this year, and it turns out they've been sneaking little Swedish jokes into your home this whole time.
Over the last 50 years, IKEA Canada has become part of countless households across the country, helping folks furnish and style everything from student dorms to family homes.
You're no doubt familiar with their style, from clean Scandinavian designs to iconic furniture tags with unmistakably Swedish product names. And it's through these names that IKEA has been adding a little bit of fun to the design game for decades.
Here are eight of the cheekiest IKEA Canada product names and what they actually mean.
NATTAPA
The NATTAPA guardrail.
Of course, the name for a child's guardrail translates into "night monkey." Anyone who has had to try and keep a cheeky kid from rolling out of bed in the middle of the night will relate to this one.
FISKBO
IKEA FISKBO frames.
Turns out, the name for the FISKBO series of picture frames directly translates to "fish house." Confused? Well, when you look into a fish's house, aka an aquarium, aren't you peering through glass at what's inside? It makes perfect sense.
DRÖNJÖNS
The DRÖNJÖNS desk organizer.
A word you can take into your everyday life, DRÖNJÖNS translates to something like "lazybones" or "loafer." The irony is that it's the name given to a range of desk organizers — not exactly something a lazy person gets excited about.
BUSUNGE
The BUSUNGE bed.
Another nod to the cheeky rugrats in your home, BUSUNGE translates to "rascal" or "little troublemaker." The product in question is a durable, extendable bed that grows with your kid.
MACKAPÄR
The MACKAPÄR series.
It's nice to know that even IKEA designers can't think of a word every now and then. The name for this range of hall organizers — shoe racks, coat racks — is MACKAPÄR, which is similar in meaning to "thingamajig" or "gadget."
FEJKA
The FEJKA bamboo plant.
If you aspire to have a green thumb but are cursed to kill every plant that crosses your path, you know all about IKEA Canada's artificial plants. If you don't speak Swedish, you may even think they're real at first glance. Speak Swedish, though, and you know FEJKA literally means "fake" or "pretend."
SLÄKT
The SLÄKT pull-out bed.
Clever, space-saving designs are IKEA's specialty, and the SLÄKT series is the perfect example. And considering how many visiting cousins have probably caught some z's on this pull-out, makes sense that SLÄKT translates to "relatives" or "extended family." You can even add the NATTAPA to the SLÄKT to keep visiting night monkeys safe.
SNIGLAR
The SNIGLAR crib.
IKEA doesn't hold back when it comes to adorable names for kids' stuff. SNIGLAR straight up means "snails," and is the name of the affordable, solid beech crib. If you've had to take care of a little kid who has just unlocked the crawling achievement, the name totally tracks.
From cute to weird and downright silly, the product names are as iconic a part of IKEA as their affordable, clean designs. It's the perfect example of being serious about design without taking life too seriously.
Whether it's the bed you sleep on every night or a little decoration that brightens your day when you walk by, IKEA Canada's products have been making houses and apartments into homes for 50 years. Grattis, IKEA Canada!
To learn more about IKEA Canada, visit the website or follow them on Instagram and Facebook.