Last Updated on October 8, 2017 by Kristi Linauer
Good morning to you! Guess what. Today’s my birthday! So I’m gonna give myself a bit of a break with a really easy post today. (Hey, I can’t be spectacular every day!) 
But I did want to pass along a little money-savings tip to you.
First, you need to know that I’m a pillow snob. It’s true. There’s only one other thing (that I can think of) that I’m a complete snob about, and that’s window treatments. But anyway, yes, I’m a pillow snob. I absolutely cannot stand polyester pillow inserts. I like feather. Only. No polyester. Feather.
But I hate spending lots of money on feather pillow inserts. Have you noticed how much those things are? They’re expensive! I’ve seen them cost as much as $40 for a 20” x 20” pillow insert. That’s crazy! There are places like Crate & Barrel that sell them for a pretty reasonable price, but we don’t have one of those locally, and by the time I pay for shipping, the price is right back up there!
So I’ve started making my own. I’ve found these standard/queen size feather bed pillows at Target and other stores for about $10.
I make the pillow insert out of leftover blackout drapery lining. The rubbery coating on the back of blackout lining keeps the feathers from poking through easily.
I’ve found that I can get about three 18” x 12” pillow inserts out of one standard/queen feather pillow.
It’s a bit messy…
…but considering that I end up paying about $3.33 per pillow insert, I think it’s totally worth it! And because they don’t need to look pretty, they’re so simple and quick to make. I think it takes me about 10 minutes start to finish to make one insert.
I think it’s definitely worth the savings! And when they’re inside a pretty little pillow cover, nobody will ever know that I made it myself and paid less than $3.50 for it. Not too shabby!
Have a great day!
Addicted 2 Decorating is where I share my DIY and decorating journey as I remodel and decorate the 1948 fixer upper that my husband, Matt, and I bought in 2013. Matt has M.S. and is unable to do physical work, so I do the majority of the work on the house by myself. You can learn more about me here.
I hope you’ll join me on my DIY and decorating journey! If you want to follow my projects and progress, you can subscribe below and have each new post delivered to your email inbox. That way you’ll never miss a thing!
17 Comments
Zoe Feast
June 21, 2011 at 2:39 pmHappy Birthday! I am a pillow snob too… feather is the only way to go. I love the fact your DIY approach means you can have any shaped pillow you like.
Enjoy your day and eat lots of cake!
Ashley
June 21, 2011 at 2:55 pmI am absolutely in LOVE with that chair!! It's gorgeous.
Ashley
June 21, 2011 at 2:57 pmOh, and of course, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Love your blog.
Erin
June 21, 2011 at 4:53 pmHAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Thanks for giving US a little present today…this is such a brilliant idea!!
Enjoy your special day!!!!
Amy @ Increasinglydomestic
June 21, 2011 at 5:27 pmHappy Birthday!
cozycondoliving
June 22, 2011 at 4:02 amHappy Birthday!!!! I'm having trouble commenting to your post again, but I thought I'd give it one more try.
cozycondoliving
June 22, 2011 at 4:06 amOK. Since it worked I wanted to tell you that I hope you had a fun B-Day. Thank you for the feather pillow project. I hadn't thought about using blackout fabric to keep those pesky feathers from poking out (my Ikea pillows poke me all the time and come out and make a mess). I don't want to risk commenting on your other post so I wanted to tell you that I love your mom's sunburst clock. She's sounds like she is just as creative as you are. Your brother is a cutie!
Mariam Omotobora lawal
January 19, 2020 at 1:26 pmLove your post
Jessica @ Home and Faith
June 22, 2011 at 3:54 pmHappy Birthday!!! (I know a day late! But you deserve a whole birthday week, right? 🙂 ) The feather bed pillow is a GREAT tip! Best one I've seen in a while! Thanks for sharing!
Christine
June 23, 2011 at 5:01 pmHi, I found you on Thrifty Decor Chic. I had no idea that Target sells these, I don't normally go looking through the bedding aisle of Target…..seems that these are even cheaper than Ikea (which is also a 150 mile round trip from my house). Thanks for the tip!!!!!
Happy birthday by the way, mine was on the 20th.
m andm
June 23, 2011 at 5:50 pmWow you really got my attention! I'm a pillow snob as well. Thanks for the tip. You know where I'm going for my next pillow makings.
Kim Perdew
June 29, 2011 at 1:04 amI am trying to catch up on all your posts as I have been out of commission in blog land for a couple weeks. LOVE this idea….. And a LATE Happy Birthday… here is hoping it was happy…..
Feather Pillow
July 30, 2011 at 4:35 pmThat's a fantastic feather pillow; just perfect for that beautiful chair.
13 Types Of Pillows To Get Comfortable With
April 23, 2012 at 12:35 am[…] source […]
Robin
August 2, 2016 at 9:57 amI think your idea is very simplistic. I look forward to making them
I do have a question about”preparing” the feathers. I live in Delaware and when I was investing sources for making pillows with ticks g, etc, I learned that there are certain health standards for “preparing” feathers for use.
Any ideas? Though your technique seems simple enough, it may not meet health standards.
I want to sell my pillows with down that a friend wants to give me. They are over 40 years old. Several green trash bags full.
Kristi
August 2, 2016 at 10:02 amI have no idea. But I can tell you for sure that there’s a huge difference between feather pillows and down pillows. Down costs a whole lot more.
Parker
December 16, 2022 at 8:21 amI purchased a bunch of feather and down pillows at thrift stores, and replaced the covers.