Personalising a rental is a given these days, as are rental hacks. With the housing market in India changing rapidly (young Indians are delaying home purchases, choosing instead to rent apartments and direct their savings towards equities and mutual funds), home brands are focusing on flexible living solutions. Even if you have never set foot in an IKEA store, the Swedish giant’s impact on apartment therapy is hard to miss. This was more than evident a few weeks ago at the fourth edition of IKONIC at the company’s Worli store in Mumbai.
Over two days, consumers attended sessions featuring product and interior designers, including IKEA in-house designer Akanksha Deo Sharma, content creators and stand-up comics such as Kenny Sebastian and Mallika Dua. The theme was ‘Make space for what you love’ and one of the strongest messages there was that while Gen Z may not be ready to buy an apartment, they were not willing to live with somebody else’s idea of one either. The festival therefore treated the home not as a finished interior but as a work in progress.
Kabeer Khan from IKEA with Ankita Chawla, Mallika Dua, and Kenny Sebastian.
Sebastian recalled how his first apartment was mostly about poor design choices, with fairy lights filling in the blanks. Dua said she was mildly shocked, thinking back to how she had designed her first independent living space without many accessory options. Attendees referred to the landlord rules they navigated, from ‘no drilling’ to small wardrobes, unforgiving lighting and kitchens that could not be changed.
Behind rentmaxxing
For a generation that may move cities for a job, prioritise location over space when it comes to renting and is comfortable about sharing an apartment with strangers, the term rentmaxxing is getting more currency. It refers to making the most of a rented space, without spending as though you own it. Makeovers go beyond removable wallpaper and second-hand chairs. From IKEA’s recent report on storage solutions, this has always been an important category in India where hoarding is a common concern. The objective is to make a rental look personal and IKEA has picked up on these needs with affordable room packages, furniture that does more than one job, replaceable sofa covers and a renewed emphasis on storage and organisation. It is also broadening its marketing beyond the furniture enthusiast to the lifestyle creator, the aspiring entrepreneur and the person trying to make a small apartment accommodate an unexpectedly large life.
Adosh Sharma
For Adosh Sharma, IKEA India’s country commercial manager, that is precisely the point. “We are not here to sell just furniture. We are here to provide a better everyday life,” he says.
IKEA’s Life at Home research examines how people’s domestic needs change as they move through different stages of life. Sharma says the company has identified a significant renter population in Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi, including students in paying guest accommodation, young professionals starting their careers and couples setting up independent households.
More room per room
The market is substantial, even if the motives for renting vary. Magicbricks’ Rental Index in September 2026, found rental demand rising 16 per cent quarter-on-quarter in April-June. Homes measuring 500 to 1,000 square feet accounted for 46 per cent of rental demand. These are details furniture businesses are taking into consideration.
But the idea that Gen Z has collectively abandoned homeownership would be too convenient. Some younger Indians see renting as a way to preserve financial flexibility; others still aspire to buy but are saving for it. But what is being noted is that home-improvement does not have to be put on hold till you get the property deed.
Creators as ambassadors
IKEA has been working with creators to show what that can look like. One relatable example is Ankita Chawla (@hustlerani on Instagram) who spoke recently about giving a corner of her new rental a cafe vibe. There is Neha Dubey as well, who has worked on her rental in Delhi and Anik, who used its products to set up a studio space. These projects offer potential case studies in how people negotiate the gap between a standard rental and a home that reflects their own habits and tastes. The practical challenge is to make those choices portable. A sofa should survive a move and a wardrobe should fit into a different bedroom.“You don’t need to buy a new sofa at all,” Sharma says.
IKEA sells replacement covers, many of them machine-washable, allowing customers to change the look of a sofa without discarding the frame. Curtains, cushions and bed linen can do similar work. In the right combination, a room can be refreshed without a renovation.
Invisible storage solutions
The company’s emphasis for the 2027 financial year is storing and organisation, following a previous year focused on cooking and eating. It is a particularly apt shift for homes in which one room may need to accommodate several versions of daily life. A living room can become a workplace during the day and a social space in the evening. A corner can serve as a creative studio, a gaming set-up or a place to run a small business. For IKEA, the answer is often furniture with a second function: sofas with storage, coffee tables that hide clutter, stools that can do more than provide a seat, and compact wardrobes designed to make better use of limited space. “You buy less furniture, but you get much more out of it,” Sharma says. He cites a bedroom package in Bengaluru costing less than ₹70,000, including a bed, wardrobe, chest of drawers, table, chair, lamps and accessories. In another example, he describes a complete room set for around ₹40,000. Prices vary by market and configuration, but the thinking is to make the cost of furnishing a room visible and manageable.
“At the end of the day, if you’re paying rent of a certain amount every month, you also then look at these amounts,” Sharma says. IKEA’s wager is that a home can be temporary without feeling provisional — and that the furniture should be ready to move when life does.
Published – October 10, 2026 06:04 am IST
