Love IKEA? Make Room In Your Heart For One More Swedish Home Brand

Sometimes the trickiest dilemma with buying furniture is the shocking lack of medium-priced options. Brands either have numerous dollars signs attached or go the other extreme, and target the college (or just-graduated) market — with chairs that fall apart in a year. There's a serious need for high-design, affordable pieces that will stand the test of time. As much as we love ABC Carpet & Home and IKEA, we've wanted some middle ground. Hence the reason were stoked to meet Hem.

The new online European home brand (with a large number of Swedish designers) launched this week with a line of chairs, lighting, and accessories — all made by various designers, giving it a boutique vibe. According to its global creative director Petrus Palmér, the line isn't about any particular style, but exploring new ways of living and finding solutions for them. "Thinking online first is of course one of those new needs. Hem is for everyone who aspires to own an original design piece of furniture at a reasonable price," he says. As of now, it ships directly to customers in more than 30 European countries and the U.S.

From a powder blue lounge chair with legs that would seem to belong in Beauty And The Beast to a half-milky circular mirror, each piece is distinct. And, what you won't find is any sort of mass-produced vibe. Click through for our favorites, and then start contemplating your commitment to that living room chair.