If you are thinking of buying a kitchen stool, or also called a bar stool, and you have doubts, do not worry. It is very easy to find the option that best suits your needs. There are many models that we have available in the market and, in the end, it will depend largely on your tastes when buying the kitchen stool, but doing a first filtering will be vital to find the right one.
Who will use the kitchen stool?
This question seems very obvious, but sometimes we just focus on design and forget about the more practical part. If the stool is going to be used by an older person or a child, it is best to go to stable stools, that is, with 4 legs, to avoid having unexpected movements that can cause an accident or involuntary movement when sitting or getting up from the stool.
On the other hand, if the stool is going to be used by different people and, above all, people with different heights, the best option will be a hydraulic and height-adjustable kitchen stool. In this way, each diner will adjust the height of the stool to their needs and will respect the minimum of about 30cm between the stool seat and the kitchen counter or bar.
The recommended height between the stool seat and the bar where it will be placed is 30cm. In this way we will have enough space for the legs. Cheap bar stools online
Where are we going to place the stool?
Imagine that we have an island kitchen with different heights. Sometimes we may need the stool at one height and others adjusted at another. In that case, the option that may interest us the most is a hydraulic stool to adjust its height and therefore have a very versatile model.
If instead the stool will always be placed with the same bar height and many people will use it throughout the day, the best option a priori will be that of a fixed stool for stability and durability (think of a bar, cafeteria or reception for example).
Materials for the kitchen stool frame
There is a huge range of materials for kitchen stools. The most common for resistance, versatility and price are those that we detail:
Stools with steel structure. They are very resistant when they are stools with a welded structure (all our models have the welded metal frame as standard). In this way, we prevent the screws from loosening over time and limping or even causing an accident. Our metal stools have been polished with diamond stones to “sand” them, leaving them without blemishes, and subsequently, a double coat of special paint has been applied against bumps and scratches.
Stainless steel stools. This type of stool is generally hydraulic in format. They are very resistant and the hydraulic system is very reliable if it has a good gas core that prevents its loss and therefore stops working overtime. In our case, all hydraulic stools support weights of up to 100kg thanks to the fact that they have the most advanced hydraulic systems on the market as standard.
Stools in stainless steel with colored textures. This is already curling the curl. That is, adding to everything written in the previous point of the stools in stainless steel, that surface is polished and a double layer of special paint is applied to this type of surface. The result is a spectacularly designed white or black hydraulic stool. This type of model is usually higher priced due to its manufacturing process. If you find low-priced, colored stainless steel models, we advise you to ask them well about their characteristics. If the paint is not of excellent quality or it has been applied directly to the stainless steel, it is most likely that in a few months the paint will jump and the stool will take on the appearance of Dalmatian.
Wooden stools. This style of stools is carried more every day thanks to the combination of wood with seats in different upholsteries. In addition, with the Dekton or Silestone bar bars, for example, they can make a perfect combination, joining textures and shades that initially seem very different but fit like a glove. In this type of stool, it is important that the structure is of high quality to avoid that over time they give way and when talking about the seats, that they have a good and great backrest to enjoy a delicious cocktail (to give an example !).
Type of seat and backrest on a kitchen stool
Here it will depend a lot on the use that we are going to give to the stool and if it will be sporadic or on the contrary, very continuous. The stools with large seats, apart from obviously taking up more space, give a feeling of filling the room. Think that a stool visually occupies much more than a chair and if to that, we add a bulky seat, even more. If the bar where the stool will be placed is of considerable dimensions (more than 3 meters long and 2 meters wide), choose without a problem a “large” stool, that is, with a wide seat if you like.
If, on the other hand, the room in which it will be placed is not very large or the bar is rather small, consider the option of choosing a stool with a short or small backrest. It will unload the kitchen a lot and it will be equally comfortable when we pick up the seat in our lower back.
Materials for the stool seat
As in the structure of the stools, in the seats we also find many options. I would like to give you some other advice when choosing the stool:
Plastic seats. This type of seats usually presents the odd problem and discomfort. Let me explain: a plastic seat will make us slip on it and therefore we have to re-adjust our position every so often. In addition, it is a material that with heat, can make us sweat a lot. Another common problem in this type of stool is its fragility in the face of falls. It will not be the first or last time that a stool falls, either because we have tripped well because it has slipped from our hands when moving it to clean, for example. Plastic stools are quite fragile in the face of such shocks.
Polypropylene seats. These seats have clear advantages over the plastic we were talking about and that is that it is a rough material, so we will not slip and it is much more resistant to shocks. Like everything in life, there are polypropylene and polypropylene. We use the second, that is, high-density polypropylene that ensures excellent resistance. Our polypropylene stools usually have a small “notch” in the casing and this is produced when the pressing mold is removed after manufacturing. Because the material is so dense, there are sometimes small indentations that become visible once produced. If they were of lower density, these small irregularities could be better concealed, but they would not be half as resistant.
Upholstered seats. They are very comfortable, generally with a greater range of colors than the previous two and give a feeling of greater warmth, being warmer materials. They are generally associated with models with a 4-legged steel structure, since they have a more industrial or classic style, depending on the material of the structure.
In summary, what things should I keep in mind when buying a kitchen stool?
- Think about who will use it. If they are young children or older people, better more stable 4-legged stools.
- Study the place where it will be placed and decide on its size and fixed or height-adjustable system.
- There are many options on the market but the most common are steel or wood structures (in the case of 4-legged stools) and stainless steel (for hydraulics). As for the seats, the most recommended are polypropylene and in textile format.
