People buy a kitchen island for the stools around it, and that is exactly where they most often go wrong. Catalogues use the word "bar" for stools of 65 cm and of 80 cm, and the difference between them is the difference between "comfortable" and "my knees don't fit under the worktop".
Here is how to choose the height from one figure: the height of your worktop.
Island or breakfast bar
A kitchen island or a 90 cm worktop needs a counter stool with a 60–65 cm seat. A 110 cm breakfast bar needs a bar stool with a 75–80 cm seat. Don't mix them up: a bar stool at a 90 cm island will lift you so high that the worktop ends up at thigh level.
The 25–30 cm rule
As with dining chairs, the height difference is what counts: there should be 25–30 cm between the seat and the worktop. That is slightly less than at a dining table, because on a high stool you sit more upright and your feet rest on the footrest, not on the floor.
Hence a simple formula for any non-standard worktop: worktop height minus 25–30 cm. A 100 cm bar: seat 70–75 cm; a 95 cm island: seat 65–70 cm.
How to measure
- From the floor to the top of the worktop, where people will sit.
- If there is a ledge, drawer or frame under the worktop, from the floor to its underside.
- How far the worktop overhangs the cabinet fronts: your knees need to go under it.
The last figure is often decisive. Without an overhang, even a stool of the right height can't be pulled in: your knees hit the cabinet fronts.
The footrest is not decoration
On a dining chair your feet are on the floor. On a high stool they aren't, and without support they dangle: within ten minutes your lower back starts to ache. That is why a bar or counter stool must have a footrest: a crossbar or ring at a height where you can comfortably rest your feet.
In venues the footrest also takes knocks from shoes, so it is made of metal or has a metal cover.
How many stools will fit
60 cm per person, and 30 cm from the edge of the worktop to the centre of the outermost seat. A 120 cm island takes two stools, 180 cm three, 240 cm four. The width of the stool itself is secondary here: there needs to be elbow room between people.
One model, three heights
Any of our chairs can be ordered at counter or bar height. The backrest, shape and fabric stay the same; only the legs change. That way the dining set at the table and the stools at the island look like one set, rather than something pieced together from different shops.
Our manager will calculate the seat height for your worktop, the leg and footrest options and the price of the bar version. Send them the worktop height and a photo of your kitchen.
Examples from our orders
60 Vapore bar stools for a venue in Lviv: black upholstery with diamond stitching on a black metal frame with a footrest, bar height, ₴6,000 per stool. The metal frame was the venue's requirement: hundreds of sittings a day.
Bar stools for a kitchen in Vasylkiv: made to a designer's drawing for a specific worktop.
Fabric for a high stool
A high stool at an island is still the kitchen: crumbs, water, greasy hands. Velour is nicer to the touch, basket-weave fabric hides small marks, eco-leather wipes clean in seconds. A comparison of fabrics is in the article on types of upholstery fabric, and if you have pets, see which fabrics stand up to claws and children.
Made for your kitchen
A non-standard island, a 100 cm bar or a worktop with a large overhang is not a problem: the leg height is matched to the actual figures. For venues we make batches, from a few stools to dozens, as in Lviv.
Terms and examples for cafés and restaurants are collected separately: café furniture in batches.
How many stools fit at an island and how much space to leave behind the seats: see the article stools for a kitchen island.
In brief
- 90 cm island: counter stool, 60–65 cm
- 110 cm breakfast bar: bar stool, 75–80 cm
- Non-standard worktop: its height minus 25–30 cm
- 60 cm per person, 30 cm from the edge to the centre of the outermost seat
- Without a footrest, a high stool is uncomfortable within 10 minutes
Any MeBelle chair: in dining, counter or bar height.
Choose chairs →
