If you follow me on Instagram, you may already have seen where we announced that we are building a house!
After working for a furniture company for a few years, I gained a ton of knowledge about the interior design and furniture industry and quickly became obsessed with all things home. So passionate, in fact, that last year I co-founded a home decor e-commerce business called Collected for the Home. My business partner (an interior designer) and I really wanted to bring something unique to the market. So our mission is to provide our customers approachable and affordable ways to style their homes. I get a lot of my home decor inspiration online from different interior designers, but a lot of their pieces are insanely expensive. Trust me, you can create a well-styled home with tons of texture and character without breaking the bank! You just have to know where to look!
Check out some of our affordable art, rugs, pillows and more on collectedforthehome.com
So, while I’m not a designer by trade, I still find it fun to style spaces and I’ll take you through my process of planning and designing our new home in this post.
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Kitchen Design Ideas
It won’t come as any surprise that I am most excited about designing a new kitchen. I dream about kitchens and covet them everywhere I go. I’ve been gathering ideas for my dream kitchen for years and years. See below for some inspiration photos from designers I love following online, and a few items I have my eye on!
Like I said, the kitchen is one of the most important rooms in a house and I think a close second would be the living area. These two rooms are where you and your guests will spend the majority of your time so, I think it’s only natural that your thoughts, time, and money go towards the kitchen and living room first, when designing a home.

Credit: Design Sixty Five
Kitchen Island Counter Stools
I fell in LOVE with these rattan woven counter stools. When I tell you that I was fixated on them, I’m not joking. However, the price tag is absolutely outrageous! I really could not fathom spending $750 on ONE counter stool, but I was scheming ways to make it happen. Then I came down from the clouds and decided that I need to search harder for something similar that was within my price range.

Credit: Aither Interiors
I love the light woven look of rattan counter stools, but I also loved the idea of incorporating some leather, or some Scandinavian curvature. Here are some other counter stools I’ve been eyeing over the last few months. Shop the post below!

Credit: Amber Interiors
Credit: Kayla Haven
Battle of the Best Counter Stool
OK. It’s time to stop daydreaming and make some decisions about these counter stools for my kitchen island. I started Google-searching intently this week and found two stools that I really liked, but I couldn’t make up my mind. I really love the wishbone stool for how different it is! But I also love this upholstered counter stool with cane backing (because who doesn’t love cane-weave!?). I took the counter stool decision to my social media page and my Instagram gang has spoken:
But, here’s the deal. One of them is $399 and the other is $187. Can you guess which one is more expensive? Here’s what the polls on Instagram had to say:
I’M SHOCKED!!! Can you believe this stool is only $189!? I cannot wait to see how these look in the new kitchen! So cute and affordable!
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