These stools look like a fun project, except for one issue. The backs, as designed, are higher than the counter.
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My daughter has a kitchen island with stools without backs. They fit under the overhang, which makes using the island while standing very comfortable. No obstructions.
Let's assume that the *seat* height in the image above is the same as my daughter needs. Would the stools still be comfortable if they were built to the same dimensions except using only 2 back slats instead of 3?
Same curve, same angle, but short enough to fit under the overhang.
IMO, no. I wouldn't be comfortable in a chair without back support and with only two rungs, the back wouldn't be high enough to help. Being kidney height, they probably wouldn't be comfortable at all.
My advice is to NOT build these if you expect them to be comfortable and especially as bar stools. Remember Swingman? He build several dining room chairs that looked uncomfortable however they were quite comfortable with no padding in the seat. He modified the same design for 3~4 barstools to match. I hope he is not reading this. They not only looked uncomfortable, again no padding, but were absolutely uncomfortable.
Seating is something that I do no do. Comfort is touchy.
My wife and I were on a trip several years ago and walked into an Amish furniture store. We sat at some dining room chairs that felt like heaven, no padding on the seat.
We looked for this style chair in the Houston area Amish furniture stores and saw many look alikes but they at best were tolerable. And finally we found the chair, we bought 6, 11 years ago.
Bar stool chairs need to be the same size as a regular chair, especially the seat portion. If they do not support most of your leg to where your knees bend you have no floor to help support the weight. And the front cross/stretcher will need to be where your feet will comfortably rest or else from the knees down they will be swinging around.
The stools you have a link to look nice but nice and uncomfortable. Actually a normal chair has your butt 18"~20" from the floor. The front cross piece looks much farther than that.
It must be the picture. The front legs are 25", the seat is 3/4" so your butt is 25 3/4" from the floor. The top of the front stretcher is 9 1/4" from the floor. Using my fraction calculator ;-) I determined that the top of the stretcher would be 16 1/2" below my butt. Less than your minimum dimension of 18, not farther.
Ok, Shorter might mean your butt bones carry the weight as you legs pivot up because your feet on the front bar are higher than a normal chair.
Try sitting in a regular dining room chair and put a 2x under your feet. And remember your feet have to stay pretty much in one place for a period of time.
I would strongly advise trying out bar-stools at a furniture store and sitting on one that seems "initially comfortable" and sit there for at least 15 minutes. And if you like it take measurements.
Remember that being comfortable often means being able to reposition where your feet are. A bar-stool sorta locks you in to a single seating position.
Now if you are only going for ascetics, the world is your oyster.
The stretcher can be repositioned if need be, although the fact that Mom, myself and my daughter are all short, closer is better than farther, at least for us.
I basically agree with what you are saying, but you seem to be arguing against barstools in general. The option for feet on the floor doesn't apply here. The island in question (my daughter's) and in the picture is higher than a normal table. Look at any barstool, with or without a back. They all have a footrest at some fixed position.
How does your repositioning criteria work with those? If a tall chair is required, a tall chair is required.
I've never found a home barstool that was comfortable. Bar, barstools tend to be OK, probably because they cost several hundred bux each and they're deeper supporting the whole thigh. OTOH, I've never found a high-top table comfortable at all. Bar barstools seem to have high backs. Barstools at counter-serve restaurants aren't very comfortable but that's probably by design.
The floor is an important part as to how a chair feels. You can move your feet around when you get tired of your feet being in one position. With a bar stool, you have one place for your feet. Even if it is comfortably placed, you likely want to move your feet around, like when sitting on a chair. With a bars-stool you feet have one place to be.
I guess what I am trying to say here is that building a comfortable chair is a gamble. IMHO all bar stools are less comfortable than a chair. Even those fashioned after a comfortable chair.
The foot rest you/we mention above does not necessarily make things comfortable. A bar is not like the floor. Your ankles will be tested as they will have to keep your foot in a comfortable angle. A floor gives total support vs a balancing bar.
I'm going from experience of sitting on bar stools, for more than 15~20 minutes. Again, see if you can actually find a bar stool that you find comfortable and start there. Building without testing is likely to have you ending up with a bar-stool that looks good and that is about it.
I get that. 100%. Chairs and floors are a set. Bar stools and footrests are a set. One set is better than the other. No argument.
But I don't see how that enters into the discussion when the only option is a stool. The island can't be lowered so that a chair can be used. It has to be a stool, therefore it has to be a footrest, not the floor.
Let me try an analogy. Not sure if it will work. Let's say I asked about grilling fruit. I'm asking because the person I'm grilling for is deathly allergic to all other foods. It *has* to be fruit. No meat. No vegetables. Just fruit.
The responses I get are all similar to "I don't like grilled fruit. Fruit doesn't grill anywhere near as good as a steak or asparagus. Here's why..."
While that may be 100% true, discussing meat and vegetables is totally irrelevant to the requirements of the project. All answers have to be focused on *fruit*. Comparing the grilling of fruit to the grilling of any other food shouldn't even be part of the conversation.
IMO, in this situation, comparing a chair and floor as it relates to the moving of feet shouldn't even be part of the conversation because the floor is not an option. Sure, the *position* of the footrest of the stool matters, but not the advantage of being able to move your feet on the floor.
Everything you say about the floor and the moving of feet is 100% true. However, IMO, it's also 100% irrelevant when the only option for seating is a stool.
No argument.
True, but irrelevant when the only option is a stool.
Trust me, I have some experience there also. In an earlier life I spent way more time sitting on bar stools than I probably should have. ;-)
Agreed, but I won't make the movement of my feet a consideration, just the placement of the footrest. ;-)
Wait a minute...didn't I ask about making the top of the stool shorter? How did we end up discussing the bottom? ;-)
You asked if you changed the backs if they would "still" be comfortable.
NO, not likely. Bar-stools tend to not be comfortable to begin with.
My point is,,,, don't expect the stools to be comfortable unless you do some research.
I understand that you or you daughter believe you need bar-stools. Do you/she? Most of the time I prefer to stand vs. sitting on a bar stool. But that's me, and a lot of other people.
Or simply standing more comfortably. ;~0
We all have. Thank goodness they were not chairs as that could have been worse.
Yes. But I was giving a warning that building a chair/stool does not make it comfortable. There is more than one aspect to seating that makes it tolerable or intolerable. Why worry about seat back comfort if the rest of the chair is not also. And I will add to that there will be a lot of work to build a chair or bar-stool. You might as well try to make it comfortable and that normally involves trying different stools out vs. one you think you can build easily.
IMHO building something that may not be used very long is a waste.
When you buy premade furniture, that you will sit or lay on, do you just order out of the catalog or do you actually go to the store and try it out? Bar-stools are no different.
Not only one place but one place for everyone, no matter their dimensions. Add to that, the instep placed on a rung forces the foot forward and the ankle bent at an awkward angle and for long periods.
The answer to that is a definite Yes. We sit on what she has now which are the replacements for the really crappy ones that the previous owner left - meaning that she/we want stools. Right now she has simple round seats, no backs, which are fine. I was just looking for a possible project.
The dining room table is used for dinner (usually) but the island is for chatting/helping while people are cooking, lunches when we take breaks from projects, general hanging out, etc.
Yes, there is a lot of standing near it, but a lot of sitting (and laughing) around it also. In fact, the main point of my question was to facilitate standing. Ideally, the tops of any stool backs would be lower than the top of the island so that the stools are out of the way - like they are now - when the standing option is being used.
Allow me to rephrase: The only option for sitting is a stool. ;-)
You asked for an opinion about whether bar stools would be comfortable. IMO, no. I've never found any bar stools to be comfortable, at least for any time. The same for high-top tables in bars/restaurants.
Women wear high-heel shoes, too and it's amazing that they can walk. Are they comfortable? Personally, I don't know but plenty of women complain about how uncomfortable they are. Many won't wear them.
Actually I only asked about lowering the back by one rung but the thread quickly turned into a bashing of bar stools in general.
I get it. Some people don't like them. Would I want to sit in them at every meal? No. Is it nice to have a set around an island for quick lunches and chat sessions? IMO, yes.
Yes, if the stool fits you. If not even a short period of time can be very uncomfortable. I have sat in bar-stools that I get up immediately, literally. They were that uncomfortable. Sorry Swingman. ;~)
Make a mock stool with two backrest rungs and see how it feels. Or go to the Restore and buy a cheap basic dining chair and cut the backrest down to the two rung height. Elevate the chair with floor spacers to a bar stool height and test the backrest comfort.
Now I'll extend the off topic comments: That bar top in the link's pic.... cut those square corners off. They don't look comfortable for my elbows or ribs.
I'm not a fan of bar stools and I've never built one, but I have built lots of chairs and rockers. I might try mocking up a tall stool and an evaluate the comfort prospects.
An option? Make a stool with a swivel seat. The lower foot rails on adjacent sides be of different heights, as in the link's pic. One could swivel to a different foot-comfort position, as per the different rail heights.... or each foot stagger a leg so that each your legs is on a different height adjacent rung.
Otherwise, wear high heels so your feet touch the floor.
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