Pottery Barn Look, Wal-Mart Budget

When it comes to furniture, I have very expensive taste. Not Hollywood-level expensive, mind you, but definitely Midwest-level expensive. You know, places like Pottery Barn, Ballard Designs, Frontgate, and my beloved Restoration Hardware. Basically, if it was a set piece on Friends, I want it in my house.

The question, then, is how do I achieve the looks I really love on my meager little pittance of a budget? Not to mention that my small town isn't exactly the Mecca of high-end or high-quality stores. Don't get me wrong, I love Dollar General, but sometimes you've got to go out-of-town and splurge. The key is to splurge on big-ticket items, like furniture, and fill in the decor with less expensive items. Sure, the $50 throw pillow from Pottery Barn is pretty, but I can get a similar look from Big Lots for substantially less. Yes, Big Lots.

Sometimes, though, even the splurge items need to be budget-conscious, and that's where places like IKEA, Target, and my favorite, thrift & antique stores are your friends. You can find similar-looking items for much less money. If I'm looking to buy a chair that's going to be mostly for show, why would I ever pay $1000 for it? That's just silly. Now, a couch that gets plopped on every day by me, Mr. K, and our three dogs? That's the item you save up for and buy super-high quality.

So, I'm starting a little feature called "What I Wanted, What I Got" with the hope that I'll save a little money, get expensive-looking cute stuff, and give you some ideas, too. Up first, this little beauty from Pottery Barn:

What I Wanted:

Source: Pottery Barn

The PB Basic Armchair from Pottery Barn

Price: Starting at $799. That's the starting price, folks...oh, but it's on sale now for $639. That doesn't include the throw pillow. Or shipping. Or...ouch, my wallet hurts.

What I Got: (Ok, I technically haven't gotten it yet, but for the sake of blog content, let's pretend I have!)

Source: IKEA

The Ektorp Chair from IKEA

Price: Starting at $299. And the cover's machine washable? Awww, yeah. Very important feature when you have lots of dogs.

Now, will the quality of the IKEA chair be the same as the PB chair? Not even in the same league. But, what I'm going for is The Look for Less. (Isn't that a TV show?) And in that regard, these two chairs are practically identical, so yay!

Incidentally, I am going to IKEA this weekend with one of my favorite people...for the first time EVER. I'll be getting friendly with Mr. Ektorp up there, and maybe I'll even bring him home with me. I'm super-excited about it, obviously.

-Mrs. K