Useful tips for buying the right bar stool
There are, of course, always several stressors when it comes to furnishing a new home or re-doing your beloved existing space. From a material point of view, the new tariffs on Canadian soft-wood lumber are not only pricing many Americans out of the housing market, but also out of many wooden goods common to household use, such as furniture. Price-point aside, simply choosing the most aesthetically grounded and versatile pieces for your home can be a struggle, if not a somewhat satisfying one at times. It is also typical that the most commonly used pieces in your home (like that unique bar stool you’ve been dreaming of) will be the ones you dote on and worry over the most when purchasing: this goes for pretty much anything used in the kitchen or the bedroom, since these are the two most frequently enjoyed spaces in your home.
Make the most of your space
The kitchen, in particular, allows for some especially creative alternatives when it comes to furnishing options: tables, cabinetry, and seating can all be brought beyond the quotidian with the right touch. Take, for example, a unique bar stool. Although sometimes overlooked in planning a kitchen or patio dining space, unique bar stools present a fun opportunity to make the most of your space. Say your house or apartment lacks the space to establish a full dining room, and you’d like to avoid the clutter that a kitchen table often offers—a bar stool at your island or countertop is a creative alternative. If you plan to use food-prep or decoration space as an eating surface, however, make sure that your seating is up to snuff; despite the fact that the bar stool style was originally deployed to dissuade customers from lingering too long at the bar, contemporary custom options are a species of seating altogether more comfortable. That said, make sure that the dimensions of your bar stools are unique to your eating surface: this generally means selecting a seat height that’s between 24’’ and 26”, while that of a conventional dining chair’s seat is only 18”.
Enjoying one of many unique bar stool options means having a piece of furniture that leaves room in its design for you, the consumer. Look for pieces that come from vendors who allow for customizable builds. Or, if you don’t necessarily want to go the made-to-order route, you can look for a neutral, earth-tone set that has an attachable cushion option; the color and design of the cushion, paired with the natural neutrality of the stool’s tones will lend more opportunity for you, the owner, to flex your own creative muscles.
Enticing Alternatives
Lastly, given the tariff situation discussed above (not to mention seemingly all the time in the news), homeowners currently have a great opportunity to look outside the box for furniture and designs that are not co-extensive with the typical production methods and production avenues. Nothing makes for a more singular piece of furniture, let alone a unique bar stool, than re-claimed wood from the likes of barns or other furniture. The current economic situation also provides a welcome chance to source out goods produced and inspired by our local businesses. In the end, it’s easy to enjoy a get-together or family meal tonight, tomorrow, or today with unique design options made the right way.