Get a Home Makeover From IKEA

IKEA calls itself the Life Improvement Store, and it’s now expanding its services to make good on that moniker. Taking a page from the book of home-makeover shows that have become so popular, the Swedes have launched the “grassroots” IKEA Home Tour, which will send a team of experts to different cities to work with desperate homeowners (design-desperate, that is. This ain’t no Extreme Makeover).

The IKEA “Home Tour Squad” is composed of five IKEA employees (pictured, left) who are leaving their store-bound jobs and going on the road to provide two makeovers in each city they visit. So far the cities on that list include Atlanta, Charlotte, Baltimore/D.C., New York and Philadelphia.

People who want help from the IKEA “Home Tour Squad” should submit a video explaining why they want IKEA to Improve their Life — with IKEA products, of course. (If you don’t like the IKEA vibe, do not ask for the IKEA Home Squad’s help. They will not be offering ideas that include West Elm or Restoration Hardware.) The submission period is now open for Philadelphia; you’ve got till June 6 to make a persuasive video.

After the projects are done, all the content you’d expect from a reality TV show (before and after shots, homeowner interviews, design advice) will appear on IKEA’s Home Tour YouTube channel, which is not TV, but is…YouTube. Oh, also: Twitter (@DesignbyIKEA) and Instagram (@IKEAUSA). (Note the lack of Facebook. Take that, Zuckerberg.)

For more info, go to the Home Tour’s website.

Photo of the Home Tour Squad via IKEA.