IKEA Must Haves

Shopping and designing your home on a budget doesn’t have to be complicated, but I will be honest in saying that it can take a lot of research. It has to be something that you’re willing to almost pour your heart and soul into… Sounds ridiculous, I know. With that being said, I’ve already done a ton of the ground work for you. I have a list of places that I’ll always check first when I need something for my home (and you better believe they’re budget friendly). One of those places is hands down, IKEA. There are so many options in every category that are on trend and oh so budget friendly. You honestly can’t beat that.

1. Couches

Guys, I’m telling you… You’re not going to find a couch this cute for this price anywhere else (except maybe used…). You can trust me, because I do research before I buy anything. Normally, I don’t buy something unless 1. I absolutely love it and 2. I haven’t been able to find anything cheaper. We recently got the Ektorp sectional from IKEA (in Lafallet beige). After many months of eye-ing it and saving up for it, we finally bit the bullet.

We actually got our new rug and couch around the same time, and I’ll be honest, it felt like we were all of a sudden all grown up (as if buying a house, car, getting a dog, having a baby and having jobs didn’t count… lol)

Below are my 3 favorite styles of couches from IKEA. I think all 3 of these also have a matching chair available.

IKEA Farlov Sofa in white (also comes in a sectional)

This couch is gorgeous. It’s a little more sophisticated and high end looking. Quite honestly it reminds me of a couch you’d see at Restoration Hardware (but let’s be honest… probably 1/5 of the price).

 

IKEA Ektorp Sofa (white)

This is the couch that we have, except we have the sectional. The Ektorp comes in a loveseat, couch, sectional and chair. Anyway, you should buy it 😉

IKEA Stocksund Sofa (Nolhaga gray-beige)

This couch also comes in a loveseat and chair. It puts off more of a feminine vibe and I think it’s absolutely adorable.

2. Curtains (yes, please)

I refuse to buy curtains anywhere else. Ok, that might sound a little dramatic. But unless I have a good reason to look for curtains elsewhere, you better believe that I’ll be buying them at IKEA.

They’re extra long (98″ or 118″) and extra wide, they feel like a cotton/linen mix and they’re just so pretty.

And the best part is… wait for it. They’re only $25-$30 A PAIR. Like, what?

I have them in almost every room of my house… obsessed much? haha.

So there are 2 kinds of curtains that I recommend. Quite simply because I haven’t had any experience with any others, but I love these so much that I don’t really have any desire to branch out.

1. IKEA Ritva Curtains (the white is my favorite). Since 98″ is pretty long, they can either puddle on the ground or you can hem them (I personally choose to let them puddle).
   
2. IKEA Lenda Curtains

First, let me just say that I skip the tie-backs. I’m not a huge fan of them (But that doesn’t mean that you can’t be). These are a very similar material as the Ritva curtains. The main difference is the top of the curtain. These have the tab at the top for the rod to go through. They just feel a little more feminine, while Ritva could go more sophisticated or modern (or whatever you want them to be, honestly).

3. Wall Storage

While IKEA has lots of options for wall storage, one of my (new) favorites is this cute little guy, the Flisat. We’ve been having a major baby book storage issue for a little while. I’m talking piles all over the floor, but not anymore! So excited to get these hung up in Miles’ room and get those books off the floor.

They can house books and stuffed animals, which is adorable.

Whether or not they’re completely unfinished, I’m not sure. But since they have a natural look, if you don’t like that you could paint them, stain them, or just leave them. I’ve decided to just leave them for now, but we shall see, I’m always changing my mind…. haha. They were also super easy to put together, so that’s a major bonus 🙂

4. THIS Accent Rug

This IKEA Torslev rug is so dreamy I almost bought 12 (kidding). It’s woven, so cute, it looks expensive and it’s only $19.99!

Granted, it is (just under) 3’x5′. Regardless, it would look so good in a kitchen, hallway, foyer, entryway, a mudroom, even a bathroom. Really it would look amazing wherever you put it.

I know it’s kind of hard to tell what’s fully going on in the picture, but if you go look at it here, you can see it a little better.

More on the rug topic… I couldn’t find them online, but IKEA almost always has little 2’x3′ rugs that are perfect for an entryway, a bathroom, kitchen… you get the point. I’ve also seen them made into pillows (genius!). And guess how much they are… Whether you guessed it or not, I’m going to tell you 🙂 They are only $3.99! Literally amazing.

5. PILLOWS PILLOWS & MORE PILLOWS

If you can’t tell, I’m pretty excited about IKEA’s pillows…

How it works is that you buy the pillow and pillow cover separately. So the best way to do it (in my opinion, of course) is to buy the nice down inserts (please don’t settle for polyester filling… I promise the down will forever change your life and they’re only a few dollars more), and then buy the pillow covers to replace through the seasons or whenever you feel like it.

Here are the options

26 x 26 down insert

20 x 20 down insert

16 x 26 down insert

Another tip to making your pillows look fuller and more expensive is to size up on the insert. So if you have an 18 x 18″ pillow cover, try putting a 20 x 20″ pillow insert inside of it.

Here are a few of my favorite pillow covers from IKEA.

1. Gurli (20 x 20)

2. Konstanse (16 x 16)

3. Ingalill (20 x 20)

4. Kristianne (20 x 20)

5. Metalisse (16 x 26)

6. Snofrid (16 x 26)

7. Johanne (26×26)

8. Ursula (26 x 26)

6. Bedding

Honestly, I would recommend going to check all of it out for yourself, because there are just so many options.

We are the proud owners of this duvet. We’ve had it for over a year and it still looks great. 10/10 would recommend.

Side note, I love this duvet and this duvet as well.

 

7. Accessories

To be clear, I don’t think I could ever get all of my fave IKEA accessories in a post, but I’m going to give you a few of my favorites.

Baskets

Plumsa Storage Basket / Fladis Basket / Risatorp Wire Basket / Brankis Basket

Plants

Fejka / Fejka / Smycka

Lighting

Sinnerlig / Ranarp / Industriell / Hektar

 

If you’re thinking “Man, I so want that, but IKEA is no where near me…” Check out their shipping options! They deliver all small things for only $9.99. Shipping on bigger items (like furniture) comes with a $99 delivery fee, but I’ll tell you that when we got our couch, we were so glad to pay the $99 shipping cost. They brought the huge boxes into our house, so we didn’t have to find a truck and pick them up and then carry them inside ourselves. So worth it!

 

Here are a few more pictures from our trip. If you can’t tell, we had a blast! IKEA field trips are a Follett family fave around here.

So there you have it. Those are just a few of the things I absolutely love from IKEA. They’re things that I purchase over and over and over again.

I actually struggled to narrow down what I wanted to share in this post, since I could go on all day with IKEA must haves. I hope the next time you need one of these things, you check IKEA first! You won’t regret it… 🙂

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