5 Favorite Ikea Finds

One of the few design rules I strive to live by is to not buy anything that I don't love. In the long run you wind up spending more money replacing low quality pieces than you would had you just invested in that great couch in the first place. With that being said, I do have a budget and really strive to find pieces that are good quality, but affordable.

This brings me to my list of favorite ikea finds:

1) Feather down pillows - believe it or not, ikea has some pretty incredible prices on feather down inserts. They even have some pretty decent covers for the pillows as well, however I choose to custom make my own pillow covers by repurposing the West Elm drapes from our first home

2) Ritva White Cotton Drapes - Seriously, these have to be the best find. I think I must have spent two weeks searching for white drapes for the master bedroom that were long enough (12' ceilings) and that would not cost an arm and a leg (most places I looked were charging $70 a panel). Luckily I came across these Ikea drapes and never looked back.

3) Gallery frames - at $7 each for an 8x10" opening, these are a steal. And personally I think they look a lot better than the frames that they sell at Hobby Lobby. The frames come in white, black and grey. I ended up using the enamel grey to frame my set of 9 botanical prints in the dining room.

4) Build your own Desk - This might not be the most glamorous, but the desks at ikea definitely give you the most bang for your buck. The configuration possibilities are endless. I also have one in the laundry room that doubles as a folding table.

5) Hemnes Dresser - I'd originally purchased this dresser thinking that we would eventually replace it and it would move to the guest room, but it's such a well made dresser that I am planning on buying a second white one for the guest room.

Happy shopping!

Katie Elizabeth