How Our Bar Stools Are Made: Inside the Factory in Malmö

Every stage after the raw materials arrive happens there: the steel is cut, bent and welded, the frames are powder-coated, the oak is machined, joined and lacquered, the seats are upholstered by hand, and every stool is checked and packed fully assembled.

We buy materials, not parts: Swedish precision steel tube, solid FSC-certified European oak, cold-cure foam, beech plywood and upholstery fabrics. Keeping everything else in-house means one team is responsible for each stool from the first cut to the last check, and it is also what makes custom heights, replaceable cushions and spare parts possible. Read more on our production page.

In our experience, cold-cure foam keeps its shape far longer than the soft foams often used in cheaper stools.

We upholster in three families of fabric, vegan leather, velvet and bouclé, each tested for abrasion and chosen for kitchen use. On Freja and Svea the finished cushion is fixed to the frame with two screws, so it can be replaced years later without replacing the stool. Our upholstery guide compares the fabrics.

We check that it stands level, that joints and welds are clean, that the finish is even and undamaged, and that the upholstery is tight and correctly fitted. A stool that does not pass is corrected before it is packed.

Because the stool is delivered fully assembled, the joints you rely on are the ones we made and checked, not ones tightened at home with a key from the box. Our steel stools have also been tested or assessed by RISE, the Research Institutes of Sweden, to EN 16139, the European strength and durability standard for non-domestic seating; see bar stool testing and standards and bar stool weight capacity.

Each design is drawn around the same measurements, 66 and 76 cm seats and the 23 to 26 cm legroom rule of thumb, and developed with the factory so that it can be made well, not just drawn well.

The table shows when each bar stool was introduced. Bruno is named after Alexandra's father.

Making them ourselves is how we control them all.

It also gives customers things a remote supply chain rarely can: seat heights made to fit a specific counter, cushions that can be replaced, spare parts years later, and a single team to talk to if anything is ever wrong. That is what the 10-year warranty rests on. Our guide to whether expensive bar stools are worth it explains what that means for value.