The Smart Bar Stool Advice That Takes A Small Kitchen From Cluttered To Cozy

One kitchen island trend we're in love with is setting them up with bar stools. It transforms plain workspaces into functionally decorated islands meant for meals and conversations, instantly making small kitchens feel warmer and more welcoming. That coziness can quickly turn into clutter with a few bad decisions, however. Chowhound asked Kristin Harrison, the founder, principal designer, and creative director at Georgia & Hunt Design House, what the most common mistake people make when zhuzhing a kitchen up with bar stools. Her answer was surprisingly simple: We overcrowd the space.

"A lot of people try to jam in as much seating as possible, and that actually makes an area feel much smaller," Harrison explained. She recommended allocating at least 24 inches of space per stool to make sure they fit comfortably. That 24 inches should be enough to give your guests room to move around without anybody knocking elbows when eating. To get things just right, you'll also need to take both the size of your kitchen island and the stools themselves into consideration.

"If an island is 60 inches wide, and the barstools are 20 inches wide, that doesn't mean you should buy three barstools. That means you should only buy two barstools to make sure that each person has 24 inches of space to sit and move comfortably," Harrison said. Wider seats in smaller spaces will be heavier on the eye, so make sure you adjust accordingly. Two 24-inch stools at a 48-inch island will look a lot more cluttered than two 20-inch stools in the same spot.

To make your kitchen feel even cozier, Kristin Harrison suggests getting bar stools that use performance fabrics for their upholstery. "Picking something with a performance fabric always helps things feel cozy, and keeps it functional. Durability is huge, especially in any area where food and drinks will/can be consumed," she explained. For bar stools, you'll want a fabric with a relatively high rub count, which is an indicator of their durability to wear and tear; a count of 30,000 and above is recommended for high-activity furniture.

If the current look of your kitchen is a little cold, you can use the bar stools as an accent that softens things up. The color, texture, shape, and material of your stools can provide some much-needed contrast to your kitchen's aesthetic. If your kitchen is cool-colored, go with stools that have warm tones. If the island has a granite countertop, you can offset its hardness with a softer-looking wood.

The coziest kitchens are curated to who you are, and bar stools are high-traffic, eye-catching pieces that allow you to bring more of your personality to the space. Because they're a functional item rather than something purely decorative, they're easier on the eyes than a few misplaced knickknacks. It might sound counterintuitive, but adding these fairly large pieces can actually go a long way toward decluttering your kitchen on an aesthetic level, so long as you choose them wisely; it's the smaller, unnecessary stuff that should find its way to a garage sale.