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In a valiant struggle to get past crappy post-college fiberboard furniture, I vowed to banish Ikea completely from my life. I snobbishly donated it all to charity, packed up my nice furniture, moved, and then realized I was not in fact yet a real adult, and promptly drove to Ikea.

But things were different this time. There’d be no fiberboard, even from Ikea—only good, affordable design. Yes, you actually can find it in that mass-produced warehouse wonderland. It was like discovering there was actually a Santa Claus.  And recently I was reminded of this when I came across Ikea’s cool new lifestyle website with real people’s homes using Ikea products, as well as a fascinating exhibition at the Vienna Furniture Museum running through July 11, 2010 called “The IKEA Phenomenon” focusing on how innovative the retailer has been—which is actually entirely true.

So with hat in hand, I bring you Ikea products that don’t suck and aren’t embarrassing for adults to have in their homes.  Basic rule: only buy things made out of solid materials.  Leave the fiberboard to the college kids.

You’re the Tops

Ikea’s solid beech countertops aren’t just great for the kitchen, they make fantastic desks and tables, as well.  I’ve got four of these 97” beauties at home—two end-to-end for desks and two back-to-back as giant work table for sewing and other projects.  Throw them on top of some legs or sawhorses, and you’ve got a solid desk or table for virtually nothing—$169 for an 1.5” thick 97” surface with the Numerär or $59 for a 1.125” thick top with the Lagan.

Good Grips

Simple, clean, and attractive Ikea’s Lansa solid stainless steel cabinet and drawer handles are sleek and affordable, clocking in at between $6.99 and $12.99 for a set of two handles.

Sewing Circles

I love Marimekko’s cool mod fabrics, but starting at about $50/yard, they are way out of my budget.  Ikea’s fabrics are my affordable alternative. I’ve used these fabrics to make brightly colored and patterned pillows, aprons, curtains, tablecloths, and more—and at only about $6.99/yard, I can actually afford to make more than just a napkin.

High Design

Affordable and solidly made aren’t the only things Ikea’s useful for (well, in addition to cheap and chintzy)—not only do they have pretty-close-to knockoffs of design classics, lately they’ve been having well-respected designers create products for their PS line. Dutch designer Hella Jongerious’ vases and wall hangings are a couple of the high-design, low-price items they’ve added to their line.