It’s midnight. A clock chimes in the dark without waking the sleepy kitchen. Tucked safely under the marble counter are lazy pots and pans. All the clever knives and fickle forks are slumbering in their drawers beside the naughty spoons. Even the boisterous blender hasn’t a whirr left in its circuits. The microwave blinks but it can’t catch a single nighttime wave.

But not everyone’s snoozing in the sleepy kitchen. There are those who stretch their long smooth legs, wiggle their swivel seats and adjust themselves to be abreast with their shameless countertop lovers. And so it is that each counter stool leads a secret life, partly because their ancestors, the Barstool Clan, lived daring lives of adventure in bars and night clubs, under bright lights beside stages and amidst laughter, gossip and singing in their homeland, the Neighborhood Pub.

So, in the morning, while you and your family rush to butter your toast and fry your eggs and whip your cream and brew your coffee and squeeze yourselves cups of orange juice and read the daily paper and spill your spills on your counter and sit on what appear to be your normal stools, you probably won’t notice anything unusual. That’s because your exhausted counter stools are sleeping.

Now, converting and training a lethargic barstool into a lively daytime counter stool can be a challenge especially if they’re older models with a history of nightlife, but the newborns that arrive fresh from crates are much easier to train and adapt quickly to your kitchen life as well as to other kitchen-mates.

Their stature and pedigree are very important. Start by researching Modern Style Counter Stools and making sure that your stool will grow to be “counter stool height” and not “bar height”. Beware of a leather counter stool because their ancestry is closely linked to bars. The most adaptable and easiest to feed and clean are those sleek little fellows with vinyl, faux leather or leatherette seats. A folding counter stool can be a good counter companion, but remember they are very shy and often lock themselves in a closet. So think about how you want your counter stool to interact with the rest of the kitchen furniture.

Ask yourself if your counter stool will have to act, from time to time, as a “barstool” during cocktails and gatherings. This could corrupt a newborn, so you might want to get something secondhand, but if you decide to risk teaching your counter stool when it is okay to swivel and gas-lift itself and when to be stationary, look into a versatile chrome swivel counter stool or a backless counter stool.

In the next posts I will try to guide you through the difficult period of pre counter stool selection, purchase, and post purchase (without the blues). I will suggest some adaptable models that are doing well in other kitchen environments, although more are born daily, and help to steer you in the direction of where to get the easiest ones to train. It is my desire that your stool selection be a rewarding experience and that whatever one you select will develop into a well-adjusted counter stool that follows YOUR kitchen schedule and not its own.

9. Kool Stool

Slim and Kool. She’s a lightweight little number with a slender steel wire support structure. She’s cool when out and about but gets shy sometimes for no reason and hides under countertops and then says she’s saving space. This Kool stool makes some appliances laugh but she’s not such a sissy as some kitchen furniture believes. She can live in a commercial space just as easily as a residential one. Here’s what she’s made of: Internal Structure- Beech pressed wood, Internal Upholstery- Polyurethane foam, polyester fiber, Support Structure- Chrome plated steel wire, Ferrules- Thermoplastic glides, Cover- Sealed upholstery.

Her dimensions: Kool Counter: 14.5″w x 14.5″d x 24″/Kool Bar: 14.5″w x 14.5″d x 30″h

10. Rubin Counter Stool

Rubin is made of laminated wood on his seat and back and he has swiveled legs made of tubular chromed steel. He’s handsome no matter what he wears: natural/chrome or black/chrome.

His dimensions: 17.5″w x 16.75″d x 31″h x 26″sh

11. Rose C Counter Stool

She’s sexy chic and she knows it! And not very modest with her transparent colored acrylic seat. Yes you can see right through her! She has sleek chrome legs that the other stools go nuts over! Her shape keeps counter stool heads turned, but she’s never dull and no matter what you spill on her she manages to be glamorous. Naturally she swivels, too.

Her measurements are: 16.5″w x 17″d x 29″h x 26″sh

12. Carina Counter Stool

Carina, Carina…! She’s soft with a woven leather back and leather seat complemented by a sleek, steel frame. Carina is black, brown, or white.

Her dimensions: 16.5″w x 16.5″d x 39″h

13. Café Counter Stool

She seems French, but won’t say where she was born. All we know is she’s made of lacquered aluminum with a brushed finish and loves the aroma of coffee.

Her dimensions: 16″w x 20″d x 37″h x 24″sh

14. Tomas Counter Stool

This is Thomas. Don’t call him Tom! He’s fun but gets a little bent out of sorts because he was made that way – from a bent plywood frame. The fun part of him is his pony style cow-hide finish. He’s polished only where it counts the most, on his stainless steel frame. Tomas makes a great addition to the family kitchen counter, but remember to use his full name!

His size: 17.25″ W x 27″ H x 13.75″ D x 27″ SH/ Seat dept: 12.75″