Showing off Ikea's original shapes from the 1960s, bombastic colours from the 1970s and 1980s, and what the company dubbed "democratic design" from the 1990s, the display tells a story that not even Ikea or its founder, billionaire Ingvar Kamprad, could tell.

"Ikea is not that interested in history. For Ingvar Kamprad, tomorrow is the only keyword. I thought that Ikea had this wonderful archive, where you could just walk in and pick what you want, but it doesn't," Bengtsson said

"So we called neighbours, friends, fans, put some ads in the papers all over Sweden to collect what was possible. That was difficult," he explained.

Kamprad, known for his frugal penny-pinching habits, did however lend his favourite armchair to the exhibit -- Ikea's first armchair, an unnamed pale green model from 1951 -- shipped from his home in Switzerland.

The walls of the museum are adorned with covers of Ikea's famous catalogues, dating back to the very first one in 1951.

Posters tell the story of Ikea's beginnings, with amusing pictures of the first customers trying to load the company's emblematic flat-pack packages into the back of their small 1950s Volvos.

One room is dedicated to a second-hand market, where aficionados can buy old Ikea trappings or give away unwanted items in exchange for a coffee and a pastry.

Founded in 1943 by Kamprad when he was a teen, Ikea began developing its own furniture in the mid-1950s, popularising renowned Scandinavian design -- sleek and functional -- on an industrial scale and conquering first Europe and then North America before taking on the rest of the world.