A Canadian newly transplanted to Stockholm, Lesley was keen to adopt the Swedish lifestyle and find a cottage by the water. When it came time to furnish her new abode, naturally she went to IKEA where she chose a white Tomelilla sofa. That sofa sparked an idea so obvious that she couldn’t believe it didn’t already exist: personalised covers for IKEA sofas. She came to realise that the interest in custom covers for IKEA furniture was really about personal expression. She understood people’s desire to take a mass-market product – like an IKEA sofa – and tweak it to reflect their own style. She was also deeply passionate about the positive environmental effect of recycling or upcycling countless old IKEA sofas. With a new cover, there’s absolutely no need to throw away a perfectly good piece of furniture if the original fabric is damaged or doesn’t suit your taste.
Lesley Pennington had a successful career at Apple in Silicon Valley when she decided to move to Sweden. That’s where she decided to start the e-commerce company Bemz in 2005.