Kitchen Stools for a Busy Family

As in many homes our kitchen is the hub of the house. Our kitchen counter eating area in particular gets a ton of use. Unfortunately, our kitchen stools have seen better days. Basically they are falling apart. They are kinda crap – and that’s using my nice words!

So …. I’m on the hunt for new stools. They need to be durable (like, really durable). And they need to look good. Hubs isn’t convinced it is possible to find something that is both durable and looks good. I beg to differ.

I love the idea of mixing materials and textures. I want something more industrial but not too modern. And, nothing espresso coloured. Given the space it needs to be backless and tuck under the counter when not in use. And, I’d like it to have visual weight to it. Not bulky looking but not flimsy either. Check out some inspiration ….

Here are some options that mostly meet my criteria …

via 1, 2, artefac, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

So many choices! I am strongly leaning towards the last option. Although I like the second last option too.

Which would you choose??

all kitchen visuals via my Pinterest

A Little Stool Re-Tool

Part of me wanted to title this post “The Saga of the Stool” but I’m very pleased with the results. When we purchased two black leather cube ottomans from Home Sav back in the Fall it wasn’t supposed to take five months before we could actually use them in our family room!

To keep a long story shot when you let a seven year old boy attempt to open a shipping box with an exacto knife there is a decent likelihood that part of the leather will get sliced. (Disclosure: my husband was helping him so I’m not entirely sure who actually cut the leather but there was adult supervision – we don’t let our kids wield exacto knives I assure you!)

Here’s the evidence. I’m sure the neighbours could hear my screaming – it wasn’t pretty.

I knew we had to do something to make the ottomans functional. I wanted a little va-voom, a little something that would make me smile but needed something insanely durable (see story above about enthusiastic seven year old and multiply by three).

I found this faux ostrich leather from Maxwell fabrics …

And had the tops of both stools reupholstered complete with a nailhead trim detail around the base.

Et voila!

I’m liking my new custom ottomans in our family room.

Do you have any ottomans that are in need of a little zing?