15 Svelte Stools That’ll Make Your Kitchen Counter the Hip, New Hangout Spot
These clever, clean-lined designs are sure to raise the breakfast bar.
These clever, clean-lined designs are sure to raise the breakfast bar.
Dining rooms are great for dinner parties, but if your home is anything like ours, then you know that the real action happens at the kitchen counter or breakfast bar. Here are our favorite counter and bar stools to encourage friends and family alike to pull up a seat.
Fernweh Woodworking Oxbend Stool
This bar stool, designed by Justin Nelson for Fernweh Woodworking, evolved out of the Oxbend dining chair. The Oxbend Collection was born from a desire to create seating that is comfortable, organic, and elegant in its simplicity. This Oxbend stool incorporates subtle hand-shaped tubular curves and classic wedged-tenon leg joinery. Available in varying heights from bar stool to counter stool, it seeks to complement your existing furniture. Photo Courtesy of Fernweh Woodworking
Cherner Counter Stool
Although a pioneer in prefab housing, Norman Cherner is best known for the molded plywood seating line he created for the manufacturer Plycraft, which he ultimately sued the company over. After telling Cherner that his design for what is now known as the Cherner® Chair (1958) had been scrapped, Plycraft's owner continued to produce it, claiming himself as the designer. The Chair's popularity soared when it appeared in Norman Rockwell's 1961 painting "The Artist at Work" on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post. Cherner sued, and while Plycraft agreed to pay Cherner royalties, the line was out of production by the early 1970s. In 1999, Cherner's sons formed the Cherner Chair Company to revive the designs and produce them as their father originally intended. Constructed of laminated plywood of graduating thicknesses, from 5 ply at the perimeter edge of the seat to 15 ply at the slender waist, and braced with a solid steel crossbar, the Counter Stool possesses exceptional structural strength and dramatic sculptural beauty. This is the authentic Cherner Counter Stool produced by the Cherner Chair Company. Cherner Chair is a licensed trademark of Cherner Chair Company. Made in U.S.A. Photo Courtesy of DWR
BassamFellows Tractor Counter Stool
Craig Bassam was working on a project in Switzerland when he found a tractor seat on the side of the road. He was impressed by how the seat allowed him to sit in an upright, ergonomic position without the aid of a chair back, but unlike the metal seat that he found, he wanted to create this type of seat in wood. Bassam’s Tractor Stool (2000/2001) is carved out of a massive block of sustainably sourced ash or walnut, the quality of which is in the top 10% of premium woods. No stains are ever used, and because of the natural variations in wood, every Tractor Stool is unique. Each is finished by hand with a wipe-on oil and sealer product; by not using spray booths, BassamFellows maintains a healthy work environment for its artisans. Scratches that come with normal use of this stool will create a warm, inviting patina over time. Tractor is used in diverse settings worldwide, from the W Hotel in South Beach to the Herman Miller® showroom in New York to Le Royal Monceau hotel in Paris. Ash versions made in Italy; walnut version made in U.S.A. Photo Courtesy of Design Within Reach
Sossego Marcia Stool
Marcia is forever the VIP. She is accustomed to stopping conversation cold, turning heads and consuming all the oxygen when she enters the room. The lithe, willowy legs of a dancer in mid-stride: this is the stunning appearance of the Marcia stool that appears to be twirling or running yet provides solidity and security for her seated occupants despite her breathtaking prettiness. She was inspired by the exquisite movement of Brazilian prima ballerina Marcia Haydée Salaverry Pereira da Silva. Her legs manifest motion, positioned as a dancer’s croisé just before leaping into a breathtaking arabesque. Delicate appearances deceiving, she is well engineered to support weight and force.
SCP Slatted Bar Stool
Part of the SCP Classics collection, this Slatted Barstool—designed by Jasper Morrison in 1986—is made of tubular steel that's CNC-bent to achieve a svelte silhouette. Subtle details, including a gently sloped seat and footrest, add comfort to its distinctive profile. Photo Courtesy of SCP
Fritz Hansen Series 7 Counter Stool
The Series 7 Chair (1955) debuted in Sweden at the Helsingborg exhibition of 1955, or H55. One of the most copied chairs of the modern era, it features an ideal shape for the human form, with a back that offers just the right amount of give to keep your upper body comfortable and a waterfall seat that supports your legs without pressing into them. Arne Jacobsen, instilled with a love of materials, shaped the core of Danish design identity with this chair by forming it from one piece of plywood that he cleverly narrowed in the middle to accommodate three different bends. Once painstakingly made by hand, Series 7 is now crafted using automation methods borrowed from the German car industry. Suitable for commercial use. Stacks six high. Authentic Series 7 Counter Stool by Republic of Fritz Hansen. Made in Denmark.
Normann Copenhagen Steel Base Form Barstool
Form barstool from Normann Copenhagen features the same clean-lined and innovative design as the collection’s chairs: its rounded legs are joined to the seat with a cup system which gives the barstool its unique and contemporary look. The rounded plastic seat is easy to keep clean, and the footrest offers added comfort. Form barstool makes a great addition to any kitchen or bar area. Form could be seen as the definition of an ideal chair. Designer Simon Legald has said: "I had an idea of what the ideal chair should look like, and I have had this idea for many years. I have analysed hundreds of chairs from different periods during the design process." Form concept was born as Legald’s graduation project, and in 2016, the furniture collection received the prestigious iF Design Award. Photo Courtesy of Finnish Design Shop
Blu Dot Barstool Barstool
Because bars should never have to play second fiddle to tables, we offer the Chair Chair seat in bar stool heights as well. Pairs nicely with the Cozy Cozy cushion. Enjoy. Enjoy. Barstool Barstool is a wooden bar stool with back. Photo Courtesy of Blu Dot
Herman Miller Spot Barstool
After being schooled in industrial design and engineering at the Royal College of Art and Imperial College in London, Michael Anastassiades founded his own studio in 1994. His work falls somewhere in between the industrial and sculptural, especially in how he’s able to reduce a shape down to its bare essentials. This purity of form can be seen in the Spot Stool (2016), which looks simple but is actually quite complex in its construction. Anastassiades’ pieces can be found in hotels, restaurants and shops worldwide, including the SoHo House New York, Grand Hôtel Stockholm and Sergio Rossi boutiques. Made in U.S.A.
Sossego Duda Stool
Aristeu Pires is an award-winning furniture designer and manufacturer. His furniture pairs contemporary design sensibility with warm, sustainably harvested Brazilian wood. The designs combine form and function, bringing timeless beauty and everyday comfort to enthusiastic clients around the globe, from architecturally significant homes to executive office settings. Each hand-finished piece exudes its own personality and charm. To own an Aristeu Pires design is to inherit a modern masterpiece and make a new friend. Aristeu designed the Duda Collection in 2004.
Tolix Marais Barstool
Metalworker Xavier Pauchard not only brought the art of galvanizing steel to France but also took the process to the next level by creating the Marais A Chair (1934), as well as a selection of stools. The quintessential cafe collection, Tolix was both elegant and robust enough to grace the decks of the S.S. Normandie ocean liner, and 80 years after the company was founded, the Tolix name is recognized worldwide as best-in-class furniture. All Tolix furniture is still made in Autun, the same Burgundy town where the company first began. Slight surface abrasions and markings are characteristic of the material and part of its hardworking machine aesthetic. Stackable up to 8 high. Made in France. Photo courtesy of Design Within Reach
HAY About A Stool 38
The son of a cabinetmaker raised in the Scandinavian design tradition, Danish designer Hee Welling understands the power of simple, logical, useful solutions. His About A Stool (2009) for HAY began with a desire to tell a story about a stool and quickly became one of the bestselling collections in Scandinavia. With its gently curved, comfortable seat and slim steel legs, AAS 38 offers pleasing proportions and a quietly elegant aesthetic for residential and commercial settings. Made in China.
Lyon Beton Hauteville Counter Chair
Sophisticated with an industrial touch, the Hauteville Bar Chair takes a modern design and gives it a noteworthy and distinguishing element. Constructed with a concrete shell and rebar legs, the chair's composition brings to light the unique qualities of industrial materials and repurposes the unpolished, raw materials to create a minimal and contemporary chair. Pair this chair with the rest of the Edge Collection for a more complete look or get creative and accent your arrangement with something a little more raw. Photo Courtesy of Lumens
Menu Afteroom Stool
Minimalism maximized. The Afteroom Stool by Menu offers a brilliant combination of simplicity, quality construction and uncompromised comfort. With a round seat, a flexible backrest and a convenient footrest ring, it's perfect for casual dining areas or bars. A choice of colors, upholstery and sizes allows you to customize this contemporary furniture to perfectly suit a space. Menu, headquartered in Denmark, partners with designers to develop and produce a broad assortment of Scandinavian living accessories for the dining room, living room, kitchen, and garden. Photo Courtesy of Menu
West Elm Slope Leather Bar + Counter Stool
Our Slope Leather Stools curve in both the seat and back for extra comfort and their top-grain aniline-dyed leather upholstery develops a beautiful patina over time. These are stools that are built to last. Photo Courtesy of West Elm
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