Monika Mulder, designer (Dutch, b. 1972), IKEA, manufacturer and retailer (Sweden, founded 1943), Vållö Watering Can, designed 2002. Polypropylene plastic. 15 x 13 x 5 inches. Gift from the George R. Kravis II Collection. © Monika Mulder.
When this modest watering can was introduced by multinational home goods store IKEA in 2003, likely no one imagined that it would become a contemporary design classic. It is still available for $1.99 almost 20 years later.
In 2002, the Vållö watering can’s designer, Monika Mulder, was asked to solve a clunky logistics issue. Her result is a graceful work of art. The challenge was that a standard watering can’s handle, pouring spout, and cavity take up a large volume of space. For IKEA, a company organized around the principle of using thoughtful design to address shipping efficiency in furniture, this excess volume was a big deal. The design request was for a watering can that could be stacked, one within another, which saved tremendously on international transportation costs.
Transportation was the starting point for the design of the Vållö watering can. Courtesy Monika Mulder.
While Mulder’s Vållö design successfully addressed the pragmatics of international shipping, the designer didn’t want efficiency to be the only consideration. “Since transport isn’t an issue once people have the can at home…I wanted to give the design an organic, fluid shape, in harmony with plants and running water.” Mulder toyed with numerous templates, taking note of how easily the watering can performed its main function—to feed your thirsty plants—but also how Vållö would look as a sculptural object within the home. She notes: “The final watering can has an appearance that encourages you to have it out on display, instead of hidden away.” She suggests it can also be used as a juice pitcher or a vase.
This considered design brought Mulder’s Vållö watering can the award for best Swedish design in 2002. The product first appeared in IKEA’s international catalog in 2003, available in fuchsia, lime green, and black. True to the designer’s intention, Vållö also appears scattered throughout the catalog offering a cheerful pop of color, and being used for tasks other than watering plants.
—Mel Buchanan, RosaMary Curator of Decorative Arts and Design
The Vållö watering can first appeared in the IKEA catalog in 2003. This spread also includes an image of designer Monika Mulder.
A fuchsia Vållö watering can provides a pop of color in a kitchen design in the 2003 IKEA catalog.
A Vållö watering can is used as a paintbrush holder in an apartment display in the 2003 IKEA catalog.
A Vållö watering can is shown chilling wine bottles at a party scene in the 2003 IKEA catalog.
About the Designer
Monika Mulder is a Netherlands-born designer known for sleek designs for a variety of companies. After studying at the Design Academy in Eindhoven, a late 1990s internship at IKEA led to a long career as an independent product designer. From her studio in Gothenburg, Sweden, Mulder lectures about design and her work with advanced production companies like Pholc (lighting), Lundbergs Möbler (furniture), Tenzo (storage furniture), and, of course, IKEA. In correspondence with the New Orleans Museum of Art in June 2021, Monika Mulder noted that she personally collects the Vållö watering can. “IKEA used to launch a new seasonal color for many years, I am glad I bought them all,” she noted, sharing the image below of her personal collection of Vållös stacked in the corner of her studio.
The designer’s collection of Vållö watering cans in her studio in June 2021. Courtesy Monika Mulder.
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