New VARMBLIX lamp by Sabine Marcelis x IKEA at CES 2026 – All photos are courtesy of IKEA.
Design, Technology. IKEA makes its Consumer Electronics Show debut in Las Vegas with an updated version of the VARMBLIXT lamp designed by Sabine Marcelis. Launched in 2022, the inedible glowing doughnut-shaped design quickly became a cult object, admired equally for sculptural presence and atmospheric illumination. This new iteration nudges the concept forward, adding smart technology that lets light and colour subtly shift, gently recalibrating a room’s mood without visual noise.
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“The focus this time was on what more we could explore within the iconic form,” says Sabine Marcelis. “At its core, VARMBLIXT has always been about how you experience light.” The designer points to a key material shift, where a matte finish replaces gloss, letting illumination glow softly from within. The result is less reflective drama and more internal radiance, described as “a very natural, technical evolution.”
That evolution becomes playful through the included BILRESA remote, which activates twelve curated colours designed to flow seamlessly. The sequence glides through white, amber, red, pink, lavender, turquoise, and yellow before returning to white without visual jolts. “Switching between colours is not a sudden change, but a very smooth journey,” Marcelis explains, framing light as a continuous experience rather than a static setting.
Connectivity deepens the experience, as pairing with the IKEA Home Smart app via DIRIGERA reveals over forty shades, nuanced brightness control and smooth dimming. Alongside it arrives the VARMBLIXT smart pendant, dedicated to white light, shifting seamlessly from crisp daylight to candle-warm glow. Built on the Matter standard, both designs play nicely with existing smart-home ecosystems, making poetic lighting surprisingly interoperable.
With playful intelligence and quietly radical technology, IKEA frames light as interface, mood, and material, proving that smart design can feel human, poetic, and delightfully geeky in everyday domestic spaces.
All photos are by IKEA.
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