Let Ikea’s livestream lull you to sleep with oddly comforting product names

Let Ikea’s livestream lull you to sleep with oddly comforting product names. Let me be the first to say that falling asleep is a process. Maybe Ikea can help.

Insomniacs have tried it all: herbal teas, blue light filters, melatonin pills, cutting back on caffeine. But few things really help an insomniac fall asleep like boredom.

Ikea launched a 14-day-long livestream on YouTube to celebrate its Festival of Sleep, a 12-day campaign to help Australians sleep better. The livestream is a spin-off of the Ikea Sleep Podcast, a series of narrated furniture catalogs. Dubbed Ikea Slow TV, the livestream “follows” a cargo ship’s two week journey from Asia to Australia as Kent and Sara Ericsson, the two hosts of the Ikea Sleep Podcast, read off the company’s new 2020 catalog.

“Making the most of your sleeping hours is vital for helping you make the most of your waking hours,” Kent Ericsson says in the livestream, as waves gently crash in the background. “It’s time to bring sleep back from the sidelines, and see what slumber has in store for you.”

Then, he launches into a thoroughly boring read of mirrors, shelving units, and bed frames. You can’t help but nod off by the time the narrators get to shoe storage possibilities.

You may start dreaming in incoherent Swedish, but at least you’ll be out!