Bar Stool Height Guide: 66 cm, 76 cm or a Custom Seat Height

Take the height of your counter, measured to its underside, and subtract 23 to 26 cm (9 to 10 in). The result is the seat height you need. For the two most common counters that gives two answers: a kitchen counter or island of 89 to 92 cm (35 to 36 in) needs a 66 cm (26 in) seat, and a bar counter of 99 to 102 cm (39 to 40 in) needs a 76 cm (30 in) seat.

The table below applies this rule to every counter height you are likely to meet. The two rows marked Standard are the seat heights every by Crea bar stool comes in; the other three are counters where a custom seat height gives a noticeably better fit than forcing a standard one.

Counter height means a surface around 90 cm (35 to 36 in) high, which is the standard kitchen worktop and kitchen island in Europe and, at 36 in (91 cm), in the United States. Bar height means a surface around 100 to 110 cm (40 to 43 in), the height of a home bar, a raised breakfast bar or a pub counter. A counter stool therefore has a seat of about 66 cm (26 in), and a bar stool a seat of about 76 cm (30 in).

The words are used loosely in shops and in search results, which is why many people end up with the wrong height. In the United States, "counter stool" and "bar stool" are two different products with seats of 24 to 27 in and 28 to 32 in. In Britain, "breakfast bar stool" usually means a counter-height stool despite the word bar. In Sweden, Germany and France one word covers both, so the seat height in centimetres is the only thing to trust. At by Crea every model comes in both a 66 cm and a 76 cm seat, so you choose the stool you like first and the height second. If you want the full comparison, read counter stools vs bar stools.

Measure to the underside. Your legs sit under the counter, so the edge that matters is the lower one, and a thick worktop can steal several centimetres of legroom that a top measurement never shows. A 2 cm (0.8 in) laminate top and a 6 cm (2.4 in) stone top with a mitred edge give the same reading at the top and a very different fit underneath.

You can do it in three steps. Stand a tape measure on the floor and read the height of the underside of the counter where your knees will be. If the island has an apron, a support rail or a drawer front under the overhang, measure to the lowest of those instead. Then subtract 23 to 26 cm (9 to 10 in) for the seat height. Measuring to the top and subtracting the same amount is the single most common reason a stool that looked right on paper feels tight at home.

Leave 23 to 26 cm (9 to 10 in) between the top of the seat and the underside of the counter. That is enough for an adult's thighs to rest level with a little clearance, and it lets you pull the stool in close enough to eat comfortably. Below 20 cm (8 in) your knees touch the counter every time you turn; above 30 cm (12 in) you are reaching up to the surface and your shoulders rise.

Two details shift the number slightly. A soft, thick cushion compresses by a centimetre or two when you sit, so an upholstered seat can sit at the upper end of the range. And a footrest that is far below the seat pulls your thighs down and needs a little more room than one at the right height. Our guide to legroom and knee clearance goes through the full geometry, including what a shallow island overhang does to it.

Choose the 66 cm seat whenever the stool will live at a kitchen island or a standard worktop, which in most homes means a counter of 89 to 92 cm (35 to 36 in). It is the height most families use for breakfast, homework and long dinners that end up at the island, and it is the easier of the two heights for children and older guests to get on and off.

Seat height is the same across all eight by Crea models, but the overall height is not: a backless stool disappears under the counter while a stool with a full backrest stands well above it. The table lists the total height of each model in its 66 cm version, which matters for sightlines in an open-plan room and for tucking a stool under a window ledge.

Choose the 76 cm seat for a bar counter, a raised section of a kitchen island or any surface 99 to 102 cm (39 to 40 in) high. Raised counters are common where the island doubles as a screen for the cooking side of the kitchen, and in home bars and restaurants.

The 76 cm seat is the same stool with a taller frame, so the overall heights below are 10 cm (4 in) above the 66 cm versions. Note that a tall stool with a full backrest reaches over a metre in total, which is worth checking against low shelving or a window behind the counter.

Order a custom seat height when your counter falls outside the two standard ranges, which happens more often than you might think. Islands of 93 to 98 cm (36.5 to 38.5 in) are common in new kitchens with thick stone tops, and a 95 cm counter with a 66 cm stool leaves 29 cm of legroom, which is enough to feel like reaching. Counters below 89 cm, often found in older houses and in rented apartments, have the opposite problem.

We make custom seat heights on our steel stools, Freja, Philip, Bruno and Svea, through Design Your Own; the solid oak stools come in 66 and 76 cm only. A frequent search in Sweden is for an 80 cm seat, which is not a standard size anywhere: it fits a counter of 103 to 106 cm (40.5 to 41.7 in), and if that is your bar height, a custom 80 cm Freja or Philip is the right answer rather than a 76 cm stool that sits 27 to 30 cm below the edge. Custom heights are welded to order in Malmö and carry the same 10-year warranty and 200 kg (440 lbs) load rating as the standard sizes.

The seat height rule does not change with a backrest or armrests, but armrests add a second measurement to check: they have to pass under the counter edge when you push the stool in. On Bruno, our steel stool with armrests, the armrest tops sit at 86 cm (33.9 in) on the 66 cm seat and 96 cm (37.8 in) on the 76 cm seat, which is below the counter heights those seats are made for, so they tuck under a standard counter or island without touching. If your overhang carries a support rail or a thick apron, compare the armrest height in the dimensions tab with your own clearance first.

A backrest never affects the fit under the counter, only what you see above it. Backless stools such as Eva and Svea slide completely under the worktop and keep a small kitchen open; stools with a full backrest such as Philip stay visible and give the support most people want for sitting longer than a quick coffee. Our guide to backrest vs backless stools walks through that choice on its own.