diff --git a/spec/pivotal-ui-react/helpers/helpers_spec.js b/spec/pivotal-ui-react/helpers/helpers_spec.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..af5829935
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/pivotal-ui-react/helpers/helpers_spec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+require('../spec_helper');
+import {mergeProps} from '../../../src/pivotal-ui-react/helpers/helpers';
+
+describe('mergeProps', function() {
+  let subject;
+  let defaultProps;
+  beforeEach(function() {
+    subject = {props: {}};
+  });
+
+  function mergedProps() {
+    return mergeProps(subject.props, defaultProps);
+  }
+
+  describe('when default props are provided', function() {
+    beforeEach(function() {
+      // provide default props
+      defaultProps = {
+        className: 'class1',
+        id: 'id1',
+        style: {
+          display: 'block',
+          background: 'blue'
+        },
+        randomKey1: 'preamble'
+      };
+
+    });
+
+    describe('when overriding props are provided', function() {
+      beforeEach(function() {
+        subject.props = {
+          className: 'class2',
+          id: 'id2',
+          style: {display: 'inline'},
+          randomKey2: 'stuff',
+          randomKey3: 'things'
+        };
+      });
+
+      it('overrides the id', function() {
+        expect(mergedProps().id).toEqual(subject.props.id);
+      });
+
+      it('overrides keys under style that are provided', function() {
+        expect(mergedProps().style.display).toEqual(subject.props.style.display);
+      });
+
+      it('does not override keys under style that are not provided', function() {
+        expect(mergedProps().style.background).toEqual(defaultProps.style.background);
+      });
+
+      it('combines classNames', function() {
+        let classNames = mergedProps().className.split(/\s+/);
+        expect(classNames).toContain('class1');
+        expect(classNames).toContain('class2');
+        expect(classNames.length).toEqual(2);
+      });
+
+      it('combines the remainingProps', function() {
+        expect(mergedProps().randomKey1).toEqual(defaultProps.randomKey1);
+        expect(mergedProps().randomKey2).toEqual(subject.props.randomKey2);
+        expect(mergedProps().randomKey3).toEqual(subject.props.randomKey3);
+      });
+    });
+
+    describe('when overriding props are not provided', function() {
+      it('uses the default id', function() {
+        expect(mergedProps().id).toEqual(defaultProps.id);
+      });
+
+      it('uses the default style', function() {
+        expect(mergedProps().style).toEqual(defaultProps.style);
+      });
+
+      it('uses the default className', function() {
+        expect(mergedProps().className).toEqual(defaultProps.className);
+      });
+
+      it('uses the default remainingProps', function() {
+        expect(mergedProps().randomKey1).toEqual(defaultProps.randomKey1);
+      });
+    });
+  });
+
+  describe('when default props are not provided', function() {
+    describe('when overriding props are provided', function() {
+      beforeEach(function() {
+        defaultProps = {};
+        subject.props = {
+          className: 'class2',
+          id: 'id2',
+          style: {display: 'inline'},
+          randomKey2: 'stuff',
+          randomKey3: 'things'
+        };
+      });
+
+      it('uses the overridden id', function() {
+        expect(mergedProps().id).toEqual(subject.props.id);
+      });
+
+      it('uses the overridden style', function() {
+        expect(mergedProps().style).toEqual(subject.props.style);
+      });
+
+
+      it('uses the overridden classNames', function() {
+        expect(mergedProps().className).toEqual(subject.props.className);
+      });
+
+      it('uses the overridden remainingProps', function() {
+        expect(mergedProps().randomKey2).toEqual(subject.props.randomKey2);
+        expect(mergedProps().randomKey3).toEqual(subject.props.randomKey3);
+      });
+    });
+
+    describe('when overriding props are not provided', function() {
+      beforeEach(function() {
+        defaultProps = {};
+        subject.props = {};
+      });
+
+      it('uses an undefined id', function() {
+        expect(mergedProps().id).toEqual(undefined);
+      });
+
+      it('uses an empty style', function() {
+        expect(mergedProps().style).toEqual({});
+      });
+
+
+      it('uses an empty string for className', function() {
+        expect(mergedProps().className).toEqual('');
+      });
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/pivotal-ui-react/helpers/helpers.js b/src/pivotal-ui-react/helpers/helpers.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5f6133c31
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pivotal-ui-react/helpers/helpers.js
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+import classnames from 'classnames';
+
+/**
+ * @component mergeProps
+ * @description A helper function that merges default props and provided props
+ *
+ * @param reactInstanceProps properties passed into the component. Typically
+ * `this.props`
+ *
+ * @param defaultProps default values for the react component
+ *
+ * @return a merged hash of props, giving precedence to the `reactInstanceProps`.
+ * If `className` is defined by both sets of props, the resultant `className`
+ * will be a combination of the two.
+ * If `style` is defined by both, the resultant `style` hash will be a merge of
+ * the two style hashes, with precedence given to `reactInstanceProps`'s style.
+ *
+ * @example ```js
+ * var {mergeProps} = require('pui-react-helpers');
+ *
+ * var Ribbon = React.createClass({
+ *   render() {
+ *     var {children, ...others} = this.props;
+ *     var props = mergeProps(others, {className: 'ribbon', style: {height: '50px', color: 'blue'}, id: 'default-ribbon-id'});
+ *     return <div {...props}>{children}</div>;
+ *   }
+ * });
+ *
+ * React.render(<Ribbon className="my-ribbon" style={{height: '25px'}} id="unique-ribbon-id" />, myNode);
+ * // Resultant props: {className: 'ribbon my-ribbon', style: {height: '25px', color: 'blue'}, id: 'unique-ribbon-id'}
+ * ```
+ */
+
+export function mergeProps(reactInstanceProps, defaultProps) {
+  let {className, id, style, ...remainingProps} = reactInstanceProps;
+  let {
+    className: defaultClassName,
+    id: defaultId,
+    style: defaultStyle={},
+  ...remainingDefaultProps
+  } = defaultProps;
+
+  className = classnames(defaultClassName, className);
+  style = {...defaultStyle, ...style};
+  id = id || defaultId;
+  remainingProps = {...remainingDefaultProps, ...remainingProps};
+
+  return {className, id, style, ...remainingProps};
+}
diff --git a/src/pivotal-ui-react/helpers/package.json b/src/pivotal-ui-react/helpers/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..60b580f6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/pivotal-ui-react/helpers/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+  "version": "0.0.2",
+  "description": "A collection of helpers used by pivotal-ui-react components",
+  "dependencies": {
+    "classnames": "^2.1.2"
+  }
+}