Elena Salmistraro has “set the table” for Ikea with three designs dedicated to Italian cities

Three cities, three tables. Milan’s is compact, perfect for a business dinner, in shades of green and brass, its oval form recalling the city’s outline. Naples’s takes cues from street food, while Rome’s is calm and ceremonial, designed for convivial gatherings. They are the work of Elena Salmistraro—one of the most acclaimed designers and artists of her generation—for Ikea, which this year has chosen the kitchen as the theme of its annual narrative, following 2024’s focus on sleep. The kitchen, here, is not just a physical place but a stage for encounters, traditions, and cultures.

Each of Salmistraro’s tables is naturally set with Ikea pieces. “And they’re truly great pieces,” she tells Domus. It began with a call in August and, for the designer, a phase of intense research. Ikea provided a set of stories as starting points; then she immersed herself in the brand’s catalogue, “studying the products closely, combining them in unexpected ways.” Bowls became a nod to Asian cuisine in the multicultural Milan table—elegant but deliberately eclectic, filled with candleholders. 

Elena Salmistraro

The collaboration follows an earlier project in 2020 at the San Giuliano store, but Salmistraro notes how the brand has changed since then. “Just look around—the use of color, the vitality—it’s no longer the Ikea we used to know.” She also highlights the vases: “I loved them. The shapes are contemporary, organic.”

Beyond setting the table, she also designed it: tablecloths, placemats, and other elements of her own making, each tied to its city. Milan’s table features tiny echoes of the Duomo; Rome’s recalls the arches of the Colosseum (with plenty of cherry tomatoes); Naples’s, the chili pepper, symbol of the city’s culinary culture. It all came together in record time, at the expense of a holiday in Scotland—“but when Ikea calls…,” she smiles. What impressed her most was the brand’s responsiveness: “Even if you write on a Sunday evening, they reply immediately. That’s rare in the design world.”

These three tables form the authorial thread running through Le tavole in giro (“Tables Around”), an Ikea initiative that has brought some twenty table settings into public spaces, first in Rome, Milan, and Naples (five in each), then in Bari, Catania, and Pescara. “The results are surprising—better in real life than on paper,” says Alberto Costa, Commercial Activity & Events Leader at Ikea Italia.

The challenge was cultural resonance: in a country where food is both national and hyper-local, would communities recognize themselves? A Doxa survey showed that 45% of Italians under 40 cherish family recipes, underscoring the need for authenticity. Research traced threads from Catania’s patronal festivals to Milan’s hundreds of urban gardens, shaping tables rooted in local identities.

This year, Ikea will launch 200 new kitchen and dining products. Le tavole in giro is one of many initiatives tied to food—an apt theme in a country of “saints, sailors, poets, and chefs.” Salmistraro hopes the collaboration will continue. The tablecloths and accessories she created are currently unique pieces, but could evolve into an “Italian series” for the dining table. It would add another layer to Ikea’s catalogue, which has long balanced in-house design with collaborations by both emerging and established names—from Sabine Marcelis to Gustaf Westman’s exuberant holiday collection, which included a plate designed for Ikea’s iconic Älmhult meatballs, now celebrating their 40th anniversary. In this context, dedicating 2025 to food seems almost inevitable.