Airport lounge, that is: following their subway stunt, the wily Swedes have installed a VIP lounge in the Terminal 3 of de Gaulle... because affordable furniture is probably the only thing on your mind when you've got a flight to catch. Even as IKEA tries its (not-so-invisible) hand at consumer electronics and urban planning, the company remains true to its mission to democratize design: "Holiday departures are often a source of stress and because the waiting time in the departure lounge is an average of one hour and 43 minutes, IKEA wanted to use its expertise in interior design to serve the economy class."

If the "IKEA Lounge is a space of over 220m-squared for the whole family to relax before going on vacation," we're going to assume that those 2,300+ sq. ft. will see dozens of families' worth of visitors at any given time... something like the phenomenon where more adding lanes to a highway simply leads to more traffic.

Not that it'll be a total free-for-all; there's no word on capacity or expected number of visitors, but the press release is optimistic: Completely free, visitors will live a unique experience: greeted by a hostess, they can relax by reading the press, by watching TV from a comfortable sofa, or enjoy the quality of IKEA's mattresses for a nap in one of the 9 bedrooms of the space (including one accessible to the disabled).

And lest anyone is tempted to come up with their own instructions, "qualified instructors" provide "benevolent supervision." (Ok, so that's just for the secure 50m-squared children's area, but I'd surmise the staff is more damage control than concierge.)

Skepticism aside, it's gotta be better than the weird, cramped, purportedly-iPad-enhanced café-style seating at JFK. And to think that they (probably) didn't even need to convince the higher-ups at de Gaulle with a brilliant animated pitch...