'Between Two Stools' – or how to choose between 'Counter' and 'Bar'

There are a variety of stools curated on Day True Home to suit a variety of spaces, places and uses. All are personally vetted by us in a traditional ‘bums on seats’ manner – to check that they are fit for their essential purpose – whether that be perching, sitting for an extended or expansive moment, or providing the correct angle from which to prop an elbow or a foot on a surface or a footrail. And highly attuned as we are to the idea that a thing of beauty is also a joy to live with, form is the other important factor in how we make our choices – they need to look good!

All of which may cover the basics of our first priorities, but we're here today because size also matters, as a practical consideration – and we’re talking ‘height’ more than ‘girth’, although both are (obviously!) important.

The shortcut we use as height descriptors are ‘low’, ‘counter’ and ‘bar’ but, just because we know what we're talking about, we realise it's not always clear to everyone else what is meant by which, or why the distinctions are important. So here goes with a bit of detailed exploration.

Starting with ‘low’: we’re talking a height suitable for a regular table – which means a table height that is useable while sitting but not standing. Table heights vary in a range spanning, on average, 70cm - 76cm (our current range runs between 72cm (‘Slow’, Stellar Works) and 76cm (all from Vincent Sheppard), with a few stopping points in between – an appropriate stool or seat height for these would be between about 40cm, lowest, and 48.5cm, highest.

Moving on up, a ‘counter’ means a surface at a comfortable height for standing while working – typically varying between about 90cm - 95cm. A stool for a counter height will have a seat starting from 60cm+. Our current range runs from 61cm (Stellar Works) through a mid-point of 65cm (Hay) to 67cm (Vincent Sheppard).

We raise the highest bar for an actual 'bar', where we’re talking anything above 1m. The seat height for a bar stool will need to be at least 75cm. Our current selection ranges from 75cm up to 83cm.

And while you’ve got the measuring tape out and are checking these small (but highly important!) details, just have a care that we are talking ‘seat height’ here. If your choice of stool has a back attached to it, the full height quoted for the stool will also be for the total height of the stool as well as the seat height.  And bear in mind also that if you're putting a stool against a worksurface, you will need to consider your knees: 'tucking them under' is a deal more comfortable than trying to 'rest them against', so a suitable overhang to your surface (counter or bar) is always recommended.