Breakfast Bar Stools

As we all very well know (or should know), breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You probably heard on more than one occasion from various health professionals pointing this out repeatedly on tv and on radio. Therefore, given this, to be encouraged to have breakfast more often, we need to enjoy the experience but also be aware that time is of the essence.

I believe that the environment in which you have your breakfast will have a major impact and hence partly determine whether you will or will not have the meal at all. These days, people often perceive dining tables to be too formal of a setting at which to have breakfast, so they opt to eat at the kitchen counter or breakfast bar. In order to sit at the counter or bar, you will need a good set of breakfast bar stools. And if you don’t have a breakfast bar, but want one, then you’ll want a package set which includes a breakfast bar and stools.

Of course, bar stools come in a huge variety of designs, styles, shapes and sizes. The selections available are virtually endless and only limited by your imagination. The different places you can look for a breakfast bar stool is astounding. If you can’t find what you want in your local furniture shop, department stores and furniture chain stores (e.g. IKEA), then you can turn to online shops. The major disadvantage of course is that you can’t physically inspect the item in which you’re interested. One of the common issues I often hear from people buying physical items from the Internet is that the color seen on a computer screen may not be the same as when you see the actual item.

If you only intend to purchase bar stools to go with your existing breakfast bar, then you should take the time to measure its height. This will help you in determining the right height of the bar stool to get. The heights commonly range from 24 inches to 30 inches. You definitely wouldn’t want to get this part wrong as either it would become uncomfortable to sit at the bar (e.g. not enough leg room or straining your shoulders to reach the bar) or just become totally unusable.

A flexible alternative here is to buy kitchen breakfast bar stools with a gas lift. This allows you to adjust the height. A consequence is that you can use it at different table heights and other people with different heights can use them as well.

Your choice of an appropriate breakfast bar stool will also depend on your home décor. Ideally, you probably want the stools to match the counter (or bar) and the surrounding environment.

The frame of the bar stool is often made out of wood for a traditional look or metal for a modern look. The type of wood can be either softwood or hardwood, and they can come unfinished or with a range of different finishes. As for the metal variety, there are mirror chrome, satin chrome, brass plated, etc.

You can also choose the material for the seat. If you go for a wooden frame, the seat would be the same wood with the same finish. However, if you want upholstery on top, this can be leather or fabric. Although leather does cost more, it is more durable and hence will likely last longer than fabric. Seats that accompany chrome frames tend to be either leather (with varying amounts of padding) or translucent acrylic. Examples of colors you can get with acrylic seats include lilac, ruby, electric blue and florescent yellow.

Aside from the appearance, the seats should be comfortable. In order to choose the right seat, you should go into the shop and test them out for yourself.

If you are starting from scratch, you can buy a breakfast bar with stools as a set. These aren’t all too expensive. A simple mission breakfast bar with 2 stools costs around $150 from Target. The advantage of getting an entire set is that you can be sure the bar and stools will match each other in appearance and height. This can be a time saver when shopping for your ideal breakfast bar stools.