If you’ve ever been to my home, you know that I love throw pillows. They are a great way to change up décor and add color/texture/pattern/personality/etc to a space without having to commit to larger purchases. However, until I became an interior designer and learned some tricks of the trade - I was always disappointed with how my pillows looked… they always looked flat, worn out, and weren’t very comfortable either.

My two biggest tips (which I have said before) are to only purchase pillow covers with a zipper/button opening AND to replace the pillow insert that comes with the pillow. Today I’m going to share what you should look for in a pillow insert, what to stay away from, and what is considered the “creme de la creme.”

I’m doing something a bit different this week and created a video to help break it down:

So, to give you a quick summary:

1) Pillow inserts should be a size larger than the pillow cover (so an 18x18 pillow cover needs a 20x20 insert)

2) 90/10 feather/down ratio is considered the top tier pillow insert (wholesalepillowinserts.com is where I get mine)

3) If you are allergic to down/feathers (or just prefer a non-feather/down option) look for hypoallergenic down alternative options that hold the karate chop look

Make the investment in nice pillow inserts and they will hold up for years - then you can swap the pillow covers out without having to replace the entire thing. This is the best way to elevate affordable pillow covers to look like high end options.