Our Home | New Kitchen Counter Stools

I'm prettttty sure that this tiniest of tiny updates does not deserve a blog post of its own, but it's getting one...

A couple weeks ago Andrew and Charlie were eating lunch at the kitchen island when some sort of  battle ensued over who had rightful ownership of the last slice of left over pizza. One thing led to another, there was some grabbing, maybe a shove and eventually a toppled counter stool.   The wooden stool was toast.  Not salvageable.  Or safe, for that matter.  After unleashing the proper Motherly theatrics over the ridiculousness of their behavior I went online and tried to find a replacement.   My first thought was to buy the same Ballard stool that had just broken, but you just know that would be too easy and I wasn't sure I was really in love with those stools anymore.  {shhh, don't tell the boys} I honestly hadn't thought much about them one way or the other till the pizza incident.  They were fine, comfy and sturdy {or so I thought}, but the accident had me contemplating them in a new light.

My first consideration was a pair of these upholstered stools from Restoration Hardware.  I would have had slipcovers made for them, but the thought of dirty slips or the need to wash them on weekly basis was too big of a deterrent. I do think these would have been the most comfy of the options I considered.

I loved these bamboo-esque chairs from World Market!  They were probably my favorite option.  But dang it,  they were the wrong height.  Boo.  Boo. Booooo.  World Market, please make a counter height, please!!

I also liked these X back bistro stools, also from Restoration Hardware.  They didn't seem quite right for our home though and I had visions of boys standing on the cane seats and falling right through.  Your kids don't stand on your chairs?  No?













The more I thought about the farmhouse style of our home and the flow of our kitchen, the more I began leaning to a much simpler option.  These pinterst images helped convince me.

I ended up ordering these simple oak stools from Restoration Hardware.  One of my only RH purchases ever.  Arguably not the most comfy option, but they aren't as uncomfortable as you might think.  I love that I can easily fit three in my small kitchen, something I really missed with the old chairs.  Here's how they look...

(please excuse the pics.  I assure you my counters don't have a purple hue and my floors aren't pink..   not the greatest, I didn't have the right lens (or the right settings, apparently),  I was in a hurry, had 5 minutes (if that) to spare and this blog post has been waiting in draft form for two weeks. blah, blah, blah...)

I think the lesson in all of it, and the reason I even bothered with a post about this change, is to remind myself to scale back, to keep things simple.  Every piece doesn't need to make a statement and sometimes being a bit un-noticable is the best way to shift the focus where it should be {in my kitchen's case, the food or the open shelving.}.  My kitchen just feels lighter and more breathable {if that makes sense} without the bulkiness of the old stools.  And the flow between the dining room and kitchen is nicer too.