When choosing a contemporary bar stool it is always good to go for something that looks great but more importantly functions well. There are things to consider such as the height of your bar work surface, the seat height of your stool and how many stools you can fit on your modern bar. The style, material such as leather, plastic or metal and features are also all important.

All of Design 55's modern bar stools are individually picked and tested to ensure our best range of designer stools on the internet. Factors such as robust materials that are hard wearing and easy to clean also come in to play, when selecting our range. It is always best to pay a good price for a bar stool, as the saying goes; ‘you get what you pay for’. There are many cheap, Chinese made, reproduction bar stools available that won’t last more than a few months and will become rickety. The majority of ours come with at least a 2 year guarantee, so in the long run it is a greater scale of economy to pay that bit extra.

To determine what seat height you need, measure from the floor to the top of the work surface. You need to choose a stool with a seat height that is 28 to 31 cm less than this so you can fit your legs underneath the bar. For example, if the height of your work surface was 94cm high, you would need to choose a seat height of 65cm. Choosing a height adjustable, gas lift bar stool will cater for most height of bars.

To work out how many bar stools you can fit in to your area, you will need to measure around 70cm from the centre of one seat to the centre of the next one. In centimetres, divide the whole length of your work surface by 7cm. For example, if you had a bar with the length 220cm, you would fit in 3 stools. It is also important not to block walkways, doors and thoroughfares.

For modern and contemporary interiors it’s good to go for materials such as chrome and plastic, which give off a minimalist, sleek look. For traditional interiors and kitchens wood is more suitable.

Last but not least, you will need to choose stool features such as swivel, armrests, backrests and height adjustable gas lifts. Gas lift bar stools are the height of fashion these days, as they are versatile and should you move or renovate the barstool you will always be able to match the height of whatever bar you need. Backrests and arm rests can be more comfy but they can take up extra room, as they cannot be tucked all the way underneath the breakfast bar, when not in use. Swivel options stop your stools from moving and scratching on the floor. Most stools come with underneath padding for protection, to stop wood floors from scratching.

Other things to consider are the seat whether to got for leather bar stools or faux leather, plastic or wooden to determine this will depend on the interior.

Written by Adam Watson  Close.