Short answer
On some stools, yes: where the seat cushion is a separate part, it can be replaced in minutes; where the upholstery is fixed to the frame, a worn seat is a repair.
The table shows which of our stools take a new cushion, which take an add-on pad and which are upholstered for good.
On a stool from another maker, check how the seat is held: a cushion fixed to the frame with screws can usually be taken off and replaced, while upholstery stapled or glued over a fixed seat needs an upholsterer. A replacement from the maker is the simplest route, because it is cut to fit that seat.
| Stool | Seat | New cushion or pad | How it fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Freja | Upholstered cushion | Freja Bar Stool Cushion, 1.6 in | Two screws |
| Svea | Upholstered cushion | Freja Bar Stool Cushion, 1.6 in | Two screws |
| Eva | Solid oak | Eva Oak Bar Stool Cushion, 0.8 in | Rests on the seat, lifts off |
| Ebba | Solid oak | Ebba Oak Bar Stool Cushion, 0.8 in | Rests on the seat, lifts off |
| Philip, Bruno | Fixed upholstery | Not sold separately | Repaired by us with spare parts |
| Ted, Carl | Solid oak or bouclé | Not sold separately | Chosen when you order |
Undo the two screws that hold the cushion to the frame, lift the old cushion off and fix the new one with the same two screws.
It takes a few minutes, and the frame, the seat height and the footrest stay exactly as they were.
The replacement is sold as Freja Bar Stool Cushion and fits both Freja and Svea. Because only the frame changes between seat heights, the same cushion fits a 26 in, a 30 in and a custom-height stool. It is 1.6 in thick, upholstered by hand in our factory in Malmö, and comes in every Freja fabric: nine vegan leathers, four velvets and three bouclés. A new seat is also a way to change the look, for example from ivory bouclé to a darker vegan leather for a busy family island.
Yes, on Eva and Ebba: each has its own slim seat pad, 0.8 in thick, that rests on the solid oak seat and lifts off when you want the wood bare.
At 0.8 in it softens the seat for a long dinner without changing how the stool sits under the counter.
The pads come in bouclé, in three colors, or in vegan leather, in nine, and each fits both the 66 and the 26 and 30 in stool. The cover unzips and machine washes cool on a gentle cycle, then air dries, which makes even a pale color practical. Ted and Carl are different: you choose a bare oak seat or a bouclé seat when you order, and no separate pad is sold for them. See Eva Oak Bar Stool Cushion and Ebba Oak Bar Stool Cushion.
Philip and Bruno. Their upholstery is tailored and fixed to the stool, on Philip over a composite seat base, and it is not swapped by the owner.
Fixed upholstery helps the seat, and on Philip the full backrest, keep its shape for years, which is why we make them that way.
On Bruno the seat and the armrest upholstery are made as one piece. If a Philip or Bruno seat ever needs attention, contact us rather than an upholsterer: we keep spare parts long after purchase, so a worn part can be replaced instead of the whole stool. If you expect to want a new seat color in a few years, Freja, with a low backrest, and Svea, backless, are the stools to choose.
For a family kitchen, vegan leather: it wipes clean with a damp cloth and is rated for 300,000 Martindale rubs, the most durable surface we make.
Bouclé and velvet are softer and warmer to sit on, and suit kitchens used a little more gently.
Care differs between the two kinds of cushion. The Freja and Svea cushion is not machine washable: clean it with a damp cloth and mild soap and let it dry fully. The covers of the Eva and Ebba pads zip off for the washing machine. If the old seat wore through at the front edge or stained, a darker color or vegan leather will forgive more next time. Our bar stool upholstery guide compares the three fabrics in full.
Match the stools you already have, or change every seat in the row at once: one new color on one stool tends to look like a repair.
Changing all the seats is also the simplest way to restyle an island, because the frames stay.
Order fabric samples, cut from the same rolls we upholster with, and hold them against the old seat, the countertop and the floor in daylight and in the evening. The vegan leathers run from jade black and chocolate to latte, sand, light gray, ivory and white; the bouclés are ivory, greige and black. See bar stool colors for combinations that work beyond black.
Wipe or blot spills straight away, clean the seat the way its fabric needs, and keep pale fabrics for stools that are used gently.
On any stool, the front of the seat and the footrest are the places that wear first, because that is where shoes, knees and thighs slide on and off.
Vegan leather needs only a damp cloth and mild soap. Velvet and bouclé should be blotted, never rubbed, and vacuumed now and then with an upholstery nozzle. A seat pad on an oak stool protects the wood as well as softening it. Our guide to cleaning bar stools has the method for each fabric.
Freja Bar Stool CushionFrom $79Fits Freja and Svea · 1.6 in
Freja Counter StoolFrom $319Seat fixed with two screws
Svea Counter StoolFrom $319Seat fixed with two screws
Ebba Counter StoolFrom $469Takes a 0.8 in pad
