Short answer
Plan for 30 to 40 cm of overhang on the seating side of a counter-height island.
That gives the knees of a seated adult room to fit under the worktop, so the stool can be pulled in close enough to eat. We would not go below 25 cm, and that only for short meals; with less than that, most people sit sideways.
The table shows what each overhang depth allows. The deeper end of the range makes long meals more comfortable and suits taller people; the shallower end suits islands used mainly for breakfast and coffee.
| Overhang | What it allows |
|---|---|
| Under 20 cm | Perching only; knees hit the cabinets, so people sit sideways |
| 25 cm | Short meals and coffee; our minimum for seating |
| 30 cm | Comfortable everyday meals for most adults |
| 35 to 40 cm | Long meals, working at the counter, taller people |
| Over 45 cm | Table-like seating; supports as your worktop supplier specifies |
Yes, slightly. At a typical bar-height counter of 99 to 102 cm, people sit higher and their knees angle down more steeply, so our planning range there is 25 to 30 cm.
At a standard counter height of 89 to 92 cm, the knees sit further forward, and we recommend 30 to 40 cm.
Height and overhang work together with legroom. As a rule of thumb, the seat should be 23 to 26 cm below the underside of the worktop, and the overhang must give the knees somewhere to go at that height. Our bar stool height guide covers the vertical side of the same problem, and our guide to legroom and knee clearance puts the two together.
Often, but that depends on the worktop, not on the stools.
How far a worktop can project without support is a structural question that depends on the material and its thickness, and the specification of your worktop or stone supplier applies, so confirm it before the island is built. Our overhang figures are comfort guidance, not structural limits. Where support is needed, it usually takes the form of hidden steel brackets, corbels or legs.
The problem with supports is where they end up: under the overhang, exactly where knees and armrests go. Plan their positions with the stools, not after them. A support at the knee position of a seat makes that seat useless, while a support between two seats is barely noticed.
Put supports between the seats, not in front of them.
With stools spaced 55 cm centre to centre, the gaps between seats fall every 55 cm along the island, and brackets or legs placed there stay out of the way of knees. At the ends, a leg at the corner frames the seating without blocking it.
Flush-mounted steel brackets hidden inside the cabinet are usually the least intrusive option, because they leave the underside of the overhang clear. Visible corbels and legs work too, as long as they line up with the gaps. If you have not yet chosen your stools, plan for 55 cm spacing as a starting point; slim stools such as Svea and Freja need only 50 cm, and Carl, our widest stool, 60 cm.
A little. Stools with armrests need the armrests to pass under the worktop edge when pushed in; on Bruno the armrest tops sit at 86 cm with a 66 cm seat, below a standard counter.
Backless stools slide in until the seat meets the cabinets, so a deeper overhang hides more of them.
Seat depth matters for tucking stools away: our seats are 37 to 43 cm deep, so a 40 cm overhang lets most backless and low-backed stools disappear almost completely under the worktop. That is worth planning in a narrow kitchen where the stools must be out of the walkway. See backrest vs backless stools for how each type tucks in.
The same as along the side: we recommend at least 30 cm for one or two stools on the end, which is often the best way to add seats to a short island.
A seat on the end also needs the usual 90 cm of clear floor behind it.
On an L-shaped island, give both legs of the L the same overhang and keep the inside corner free for about 30 cm on each side, where knees would collide. For the full picture of island seating, including height, spacing and floor space, see the kitchen island seating guide.
Eva Bar StoolFrom 4 595 krBackless · tucks under
Svea Bar StoolFrom 3 295 krBackless · slim steel
Freja Bar StoolFrom 3 295 krLow back · steel
Bruno Bar StoolFrom 4 995 krArmrests · long meals
