You now have a brand-new dining room table to enjoy. Or, you have a brand-new countertop in your kitchen. For the freshly refurbished kitchen, you may even want to get new fancy stools for kitchens or home bar stools.
The tricky thing to consider is the wide variety of popular stool brands and even less popular ones. Choosing from so many alternatives may be difficult, particularly when they all seem to be so identical. Also, there are many stool shopping mistakes you’ll want to avoid.
Keep on reading for our full breakdown of the common stool shopping mistakes and even how you can identify between stools and counter chairs.
Bar Stools vs. Counter Chairs: The Difference
Bar stools vs. counter chairs may be difficult to figure out for your home bar or kitchen’s seating requirements. Counter seats provide back support, although bar stools are more easily climbed on and off.
Since nothing is blocking the seats of the bar stools, they may not need to be moved out. In the long term, this will help to keep your floor scratch-free. A lengthy conversation with visitors or a complete dinner eaten at the counter is best made in counter chairs rather than armchairs.
Stool Shopping Mistakes 101: Not Checking for Stool Height
Humans are intended to sit, work, and move about at various heights, and the ideal stool will fall within this range. Since the average counter height is 34-39 inches, a 24-29-inch seat height is recommended for counter stools.
As a result, a person of standard height may sit comfortably at the counter without crouching. You may wish to alter the size of your stool based on your height and the location of your workstation.
After all, not picking the right height can cause backaches and other unpleasant sensations of discomfort.
Not Caring for Comfort
There is more to it than meets the eye when making a kitchen stool comfy. Your bodyweight should be supported but not so much that it hinders your mobility when sitting down for a long amount of time.
Using a stool with backrests or armrests that interfere with your natural posture is not recommended. A low backrest may be more pleasant than a high backrest! Considerations about the user’s comfort and well-being are equally important.
Think About Upholstery and Padding
The form of the seat is nearly as significant as the padding and upholstery when it comes to comfort.
Stool “sweet spots” are designed to be slightly broader than necessary to assist your sitting while reducing any pressure areas that may be left. The idea here is to uniformly distribute your body weight throughout your stool so that you aren’t ignoring any portion of it while you’re sitting.
The Counter Stool’s Footrest
An example of a component that may be luxurious and pleasant or cramped is a footrest.
Why? As long as the footrest is large enough to enable your legs to rest comfortably on it, it should not impede circulation.
Haphazardly Picking a Random Number of Stools
The amount of kitchen space available usually determines the number of people who can sit at a table. That being said, the usual rule of thumb is that having five seats rather than four is preferable.
You’ll have plenty of space for folks to sit down without feeling cramped in this manner. Kitchen island chairs with armrests may be less comfortable than kitchen island stools without.
Stools are an excellent investment if you aren’t sure how many you need. If you locate the perfect stool, you may as well purchase three of them. Bringing a fourth later might result in disappointment since it could be out of stock at the worst possible time.
When designing a seating layout, keep in mind the concept of a “comfort triangle,” which is a triangle formed by three adjacent seats.
Ignoring the Nuance of Style
If you like, kitchen stools may be a focal point of your room or the rest of your design can entirely hide them. It’s all about personal taste.
A good rule of thumb is to choose a counter stool based on the design of the space as a whole. When it comes to kitchen stools, you’ll want something that’s going to go in with the style of your home.
This is a more laid-back and rustic look. On the other hand, if you’re going for a more contemporary style to go along with the rest of your décor, you may want to choose a minimalist counter stool design.
From sleek, contemporary designs to classic circular ones, there are many options to choose from for both the kitchen and dining area. You may also use it as a coffee table or footstool if you have a living room or bedroom space.
You can always shop for acrylic bar stools if you’re looking for something sleek and functional.
Neglecting the Construction Quality
Even though the design is essential, the durability of a counter stool may be determined by the quality of its construction.
When purchasing for yourself or a loved one, it’s always a good idea to examine the product’s longevity.
Picking the Right Options for Stools
It’s always exciting to buy new furniture pieces, but you’ll want to ensure that you’re picking the right ones from the get-go. We hope that our guide has highlighted all the things you shouldn’t do, all the stool shopping mistakes you’ll want to avoid.
And, if you liked reading our article, you can go ahead and check out our lifestyle section for all our other tips and explainers. It’s bound to get your creative juices flowing, and give you new decor ideas.
