Counter Stools vs Bar Stools: What Is the Difference?

A counter stool has a seat about 66 cm (26 in) high and is made for kitchen counters and islands of 89 to 92 cm (35 to 36 in). A bar stool has a seat about 76 cm (30 in) high and is made for bar counters of 99 to 102 cm (39 to 40 in). Everything else, from backrest to material, can be the same.

Both heights follow the same rule: the seat sits 23 to 26 cm (9 to 10 in) below the underside of the counter, which gives your thighs room without putting the counter out of reach. That is why the two types are exactly one counter-height step apart. At by Crea, every model is made in both heights, so you choose the stool first and the height second.

A counter stool has a seat height of about 66 cm (26 in); in the United States the range is 24 to 27 in (61 to 69 cm). It is made for the standard kitchen counter of 89 to 92 cm (35 to 36 in), measured to the underside of the worktop, which leaves 23 to 26 cm (9 to 10 in) of legroom.

Counter height is the standard for kitchens in Europe and North America, which is why the counter stool is the height most homes need. It is also the easier height to climb onto, which matters for children and older guests. Our bar stool height guide has a calculator if you want to check your own counter.

A bar stool has a seat height of about 76 cm (30 in); in the United States the range is 28 to 32 in (71 to 81 cm). It is made for a bar counter of 99 to 102 cm (39 to 40 in), measured to the underside, which leaves the same 23 to 26 cm (9 to 10 in) of legroom as a counter stool at a kitchen counter.

Bar height appears in home bars, in restaurants and on raised sections of kitchen islands, where a higher ledge screens the cooking side from the living room. A full-backed bar stool at this height reaches over a metre in total, 103 cm (40.6 in) on our models, so check it against low shelving or a window behind the counter.

A counter stool, in most kitchens. Standard kitchen islands are built at counter height, 89 to 92 cm (35 to 36 in), and need a 66 cm (26 in) seat. Choose a bar stool only if your island has a raised bar section of 99 to 102 cm (39 to 40 in), and measure that section on its own.

Islands with two levels are common in open-plan kitchens: a counter-height working side and a raised ledge facing the living room. Stools always go with the surface you sit at, so a two-level island usually needs bar stools on the raised side. For everything else about planning island seating, see the kitchen island seating guide.

Measure it, because a breakfast bar can be either height. In British kitchens a breakfast bar is usually part of the worktop or an island at counter height, around 90 cm (35.5 in), so it needs a 66 cm (26 in) stool despite the word bar. A raised breakfast bar on a peninsula is often 100 to 105 cm (39.5 to 41.5 in) and needs a 76 cm (30 in) seat or a custom height.

This is why British shoppers who search for breakfast bar stools so often buy stools that are too tall. The name of the surface tells you nothing; the tape measure tells you everything. Our breakfast bar stools guide covers British kitchens in more detail.

No. A 76 cm (30 in) bar stool at a 90 cm (35.5 in) counter leaves only 14 cm (5.5 in) between the seat and the underside of the worktop, so your thighs press against the counter. The reverse is uncomfortable too: a 66 cm counter stool at a 100 cm bar leaves 34 cm (13.4 in), so you reach up to eat.

A difference of a few centimetres is fine and is what the 23 to 26 cm range allows for. A difference of 10 cm is not, and no cushion or footrest makes up for it. If you are replacing stools and the old ones felt wrong, this mismatch is the most likely reason.

No, and that is where many wrong purchases start. In the United States, counter stool and bar stool are two products of two heights. In Britain, bar stool is used for both and breakfast bar stool usually means counter height. In Sweden, Germany and France one word covers both: barstol, Barhocker, tabouret de bar.

So when you shop across markets or read reviews from another country, ignore the word and read the seat height in centimetres. The same by Crea stool is called a counter stool in the US and a bar stool in Sweden; what stays the same is the 66 or 76 cm seat.

Choose a custom seat height. Counters of 93 to 98 cm (36.5 to 38.5 in) fall between the two standards: a 66 cm stool leaves too much legroom and a 76 cm stool too little. The right seat is the counter height minus 23 to 26 cm, for example 70 cm (27.5 in) for a 95 cm counter.

We make custom seat heights on our steel stools, Freja, Philip, Bruno and Svea, welded to order in our factory in Malmö with the same 10-year warranty and 200 kg (440 lbs) load rating as the standard heights. Read more in custom height bar stools.