Three legs cannot rock, because three points always define a plane. That matters on the uneven floors common in older buildings. Four legs give a wider footprint and feel more planted, but need a flat floor or they wobble.

How heavy should a stool be?

Heavy enough not to slide when somebody pushes back, light enough to lift with one hand when you are cleaning. Around four to six kilos works for a stool that gets moved daily. Much under three and it skates, much over eight and it stays where it is.

Does a stool need a back?

Only if people sit on it for a long time. Backless stools tuck fully under a surface, keep a small room open and are easy to move. For a two-hour dinner every evening, buy seats with backs.

What stops a stool scratching the floor?

Felt pads on hard floors, hard glides on carpet. Check them twice a year, because a pad that has worn through leaves bare metal on the floor and grit gets embedded in a worn pad and turns it into sandpaper.

Buying guides · 4 min read

How to Choose a Stool

Height, footrest, weight and stability. The four things that decide whether a stool gets used or moved to the corner.

Stools are bought on looks more than any other seat, and they are abandoned faster than any other seat. Usually for one of four reasons, all of which are checkable before you buy.

1. Height, which is not negotiable

Get this wrong and nothing else matters. Measure from the floor to the underside of the surface, then subtract 250 to 300 mm. That is your seat height.

The three common groups: around 450 mm for a dining table or low worktop, around 600 to 650 mm for a 900 mm kitchen counter, around 750 to 800 mm for a bar. There is a full breakdown in bar stool height: counter, bar and table, including why the underside matters more than the top.

A 450 mm stool is a table-height stool. It belongs at a 740 mm table. Putting it at a kitchen island is the single most common stool mistake.

2. Stability, which is about the floor

Three legs or four is not a style question.

Three points always touch the ground, which is why a three-legged stool never rocks, on any floor, ever. Old apartments, tiled kitchens with a slight fall to a drain, timber floors that have moved over a century: a three-legged stool ignores all of it.

Four legs give you a wider base and a more planted feel when somebody leans sideways, at the cost of needing a flat floor. If your floor is genuinely flat, four is marginally more stable. If it is not, four will wobble and you will spend a year folding cardboard under one foot.

Either way, look at the footprint rather than the leg count. A seat 340 mm across on a base that spreads wider at the floor resists tipping far better than legs that run straight down.

3. The footrest, which decides comfort

Above roughly 550 mm of seat height, feet cannot reach the floor, and a stool without somewhere to put them is uncomfortable within ten minutes. The weight of dangling legs presses on the back of the thigh and cuts circulation.

Two solutions. A ring stretcher works from every angle, so it does not matter how somebody sits down. A single front bar looks cleaner and only works if people approach it the way the designer imagined.

At table height, around 450 mm, feet reach the floor and the footrest becomes optional. It still earns its place: on the Stool No. 1 the ring is structural, tying the three legs together, and it happens to be exactly where heels want to go.

4. Weight, which decides whether it gets used

Nobody thinks about this and everybody experiences it.

Too light and the stool slides away as somebody sits down, or skates across a tiled floor when pushed back. Too heavy and it never moves, which means it never gets tucked under and never gets moved for cleaning, so it ends up permanently in the way.

Four to six kilos is the practical window for a stool that is lifted daily. A 2 mm steel frame with an ash seat lands naturally in that range: enough mass to stay put, light enough for one hand.

The seat itself

Hard timber. Warm to the touch, good for anything up to an hour, easy to wipe. Oiled surfaces can be repaired locally if marked.
Steel or concrete. Cold on first contact and unforgiving after thirty minutes. Fine for a perch, not for a meal.
Upholstered. Most comfortable, least practical next to a hob. In a kitchen it will be the thing that gets splashed.

Shape matters more than material for short sits. A flat disc is fine. A slightly dished seat is noticeably better and costs nothing extra in use.

How many

Allow 600 mm of surface edge per person. Two stools want 1200 mm of counter, three want 1800 mm. Count the usable edge, not the whole counter: the bit in front of the sink does not count and neither does the corner.

Before you order

Floor to underside of the surface, minus 250 to 300 mm.
Check the overhang at the seating position, aiming for about 250 mm of knee room.
Decide how long people really sit there.
Check what the feet are and what your floor is.
Count the usable edge and divide by 600 mm.

Five measurements. A stool that passes all five gets used every day. One that fails the first gets moved to a bedroom within a month, and no amount of looking good saves it.

Common questions

Three legs or four?: Three legs cannot rock, because three points always define a plane. That matters on the uneven floors common in older buildings. Four legs give a wider footprint and feel more planted, but need a flat floor or they wobble.
How heavy should a stool be?: Heavy enough not to slide when somebody pushes back, light enough to lift with one hand when you are cleaning. Around four to six kilos works for a stool that gets moved daily. Much under three and it skates, much over eight and it stays where it is.
Does a stool need a back?: Only if people sit on it for a long time. Backless stools tuck fully under a surface, keep a small room open and are easy to move. For a two-hour dinner every evening, buy seats with backs.
What stops a stool scratching the floor?: Felt pads on hard floors, hard glides on carpet. Check them twice a year, because a pad that has worn through leaves bare metal on the floor and grit gets embedded in a worn pad and turns it into sandpaper.