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Essential Tips to Buy Bar Stools

Shweta Ajwani
Introducing a drinking zone in your house, or setting up the right ambiance at the bar in your restaurant requires the right kind of seating arrangement, one that is stylish yet comfortable. This piece acts as your bar guide, and gives you essential tips for buying the right kind of bar stools for your bar.

A Simple Tip!

If you plan to set up an outdoor bar, your choice of material for bar stools should preferably be aluminum.

For an indoor setting, bar stools made out of wood and upholstery are the perfect choice.
Not just a piece of furniture to sit on while drinking, the bar stool is in vogue now, and is used as an accessory to spruce up home decor. Bar stools are seen at breakfast tables in kitchens, as an adornment for the front garden lawn, in leisure lounges, or simply as an add-on for that empty corner in the drawing room.
Bar stools not only makes the corner appear stylish, but also makes up room for one more person to be seated.

Buying the right bar stool becomes easy with a few hands-on tips this article lists down for you. Follow this guide to get the best of style as well as comfort.

Height

The basic difference between a bar stool and a normal chair is the height. A normal chair is generally 18-20 inches in height ( floor to the seat), whereas a bar stool is typically an average of 28-30 inches in height (measured from the floor to the seat of the stool).
The height of a bar stool should be such that it lets you sit 'up' on it, and not make you slouch or sit 'down' on it.

Another factor that decides the height of the bar stool would be the height of the counter top. Buy stools that allow you to rest your arms easily over the counter, as well as let you rest your feet on the footrest under the bar counter.

Material

You might be big on wooden accessories which create a warm ambiance in the decor, or you might want a sleek finish and bring in steel or cast iron furniture. But put in a little thought before you decide which material you wish to have the bar stools made from.
Choose wooden bar stools if you desire to recreate the atmosphere of a rustic pub that lends your bar the charm of old European pubs or vintage German and Irish beer houses. Also, wood is a preferred choice if the stools are going to be placed indoors.
A modern, sleek, and sophisticated lounge or bar calls for steel, cast iron, wrought iron, aluminum, or metal bar stools.
They are slick, add a dash of style, and impart a contemporary voice to the atmosphere. Not to forget, metal stools are extremely durable and are a long-term investment.

Stitch

The material of your bar stools will decide whether you should have cushions or seats over them or not.
Wooden stools have polished and smooth seating surfaces, and usually do not require cushions, but metal stools can sometimes have sharp corners around the edges, which would make having cushions and seat covers necessary for them.
Metal bar stools can be difficult to sit on without cushions, and hence, you should buy ones that have secure padding around the seats, or those that come with comfortable seating cushions. Wooden stools don't really require seating cushions, but you can get separate cushions made which can be used alternatively.
Irrespective of the kind of bar stool, bear in mind to zero in on the best kind of material for the cushions and cushion covers as well. The upholstery should be perfect, long-lasting, and easy to deal with (stains, marks and blotches should be easy to clean and stitches that come off should be easy to mend).

Design
When it comes to design, factors like the spacing of the stools around the bar counter, their make, and the provision for adjusting their height come into play. The number of bar stools you need for your bar depends on the space available around the bar counter.
People sitting next to each other at the counter should be comfortable, and not bump into each other's food and drinks. You can choose from a variety of bar stool designs like bucket stools, backless stools, stools with armrests, swivel bar stools, stools with back support, or just plain, solid stand-alone tall wooden chairs.
To recreate a traditional bar setting, strike the ones with armrests and back support off your list, and bring in the rustic backless stools or ones without armrests. To modernize the lounge, order in sharp metal stools with soft padding and cushion seats, replete with armrests and back support.
The provision to adjust the height of bar stools would only be a privilege if you zero in on swiveling metal stools.
These can be an ideal choice if you wish to put them at the breakfast bar counter in the kitchen so that the height of the stool can be adjusted according to, say, your child's needs.
Whoever said style should be sacrificed for comfort, didn't know what he or she was talking about. While shopping for bar stools, look for ones that add style to the decor, but do not fall short of providing comfort seating. Drinkers or no drinkers, people come to a bar to relax and feel comfortable.
Uncomfortable furniture, sofas, or bar stools might deprive them of this comfort that they seek, and spoil their leisure planned evening. Comfortable guests are happy guests, and happy guests means a happy you!