Soooooo smething crazy happened. Here’s a little hint:
It all started when John and I were lying in bed one night talking about what we’d love to do to make the sunroom more useful slash function slash awesome (it’s currently packed with secret book projects, but come fall we can finally clear it out for a charity auction – and hopefully start working on making it a room that we actually hang out in). We came up with the idea of a long chunky floating bar/counter made from rustic imperfect wood with a few stools pulled up to it along one currently unused wall. You know, sort of like this one or this one (but not exactly like either one of them for reasons we’ll get into down the line).
A chunky little wood bar along one wall in there with some simple pull-up stools would be super functional for us because:
- we wouldn’t have to put a big table in the middle of the room for reading the paper, sipping drinks, snacking, and general chillaxing (which means the daybed won’t be too cramped and can stay in there – yay!)
- when we have Clara’s annual party or just invite people over to hang out, we usually set out food and stuff in the sunroom (so everyone can mill around in there, on the upper patio and on the lower patio) so having a built in bar for setting out all the food and drinks instead of dragging various pieces of furniture into the room and tossing a tablecloth over them would be really nice
SOLD.
So the the next morning I dove into a daydream about how it would be fun to make that cool chunky wood bar/counter for the stools ourselves with some old hunk of wood and some simple brackets – just to add some rustic edge to the space and to make it less precious at parties (no real worries about drink rings since we’d stain it dark and seal it to protect it). And then I started thinking about how I’d want the stools to be counter height since the ones in the kitchen have worked out so well (they’re not as high and teetery as bar height chairs) so I mindlessly just typed in craigslist.org and searched “stools.” And then – I kid you not – the top entry made me suck air. Audibly. They were the. coolest. stools. ever.
You think I’m kidding. Check these babies out:
Forty bucks a pop, retro slatted wood with molded seats, cool dark iron hardware on them, and get this – THEY SWIVEL! The funny thing is when I googled around for similar stools, a few nearly identical versions popped up, like href=”http://guffonline.blogspot.com/2010/02/vintage-wood-and-iron-barstools.html” target=”_blank”> these for $85 a pop, and these for almost $120. So to get them for $40 each really saved us a ton (we got four for about the price of one and a half).
So… SOLD FOR SURE.
Well, actually not sold until I showed them to John (we both have to sign off on things, so sometimes things are dead in the water when the second person nixes them) but lo and behold, John didn’t just like them, he loved them. And actually demanded (nicely) that I call about them “right now before they’re gone.” All the good stuff is always snatched up off of our Craigslist within the day things are listed, so I ran my buns to the phone and made that call.
So then they were SOLD FOR REAL! To us. Wahoo.
When we got them into the house we were chatting about how wood stools with a chunky wood counter/bar would be a lot of wood – but it would be a huge shame to paint the chairs since they’re so cool and slatted and vintage and all that jazz. So we decided we could make a sleek white counter instead of a wood one in the sunroom. But then a better idea came into the play. That’s when the bright idea to bring them into the kitchen popped up (duh, there’s already a white counter in there).
SOLD!
Long story long, John and I loved them so much in the kitchen that we decided that our fun blue metal stools would be awesome for the rustic sunroom bar. Rough chunky wood sounds pretty fun paired with sleek boldly painted metal, right? So it’s totally weird that I ever even went on craigslist to look for stools… and then the fact that I found some, fell in love, chain-reactioned John into falling in love, and ended up with them is all kind of a whirlwind. We’re taking it as a sign that they’re meant to be.
They’re just so darn pretty in the kitchen with the rich cork floors, our chunky wood cutting boards, and even things like the woven light and the wood mirror by the fireplace. So… SOLD ALL OVER AGAIN.
And now I will wow you with how many angles I can photograph our new stools:
We love our blue guys too, so who knows, maybe they’ll come back in the spring or something when we’re feeling flirty. Haha. And who knows, maybe once the sunroom’s done we’ll ultimately love the wood stools in there and the blue guys might end up back in the kitchen. Either way, it’s pretty hilarious that we have two stool sets going on, but at least they were both really affordable (we got the first set from an online school supply store for $32 each) and we’re truly in love with both of them… and have a functional use in mind for both sets. Just don’t ask us who our favorite stool baby is. We love them all equally. Although if they’re jockeying for most comfortable, the new guys definitely have a bit of an edge with the curved seat and the swivel-action. Dinners at the peninsula just got more fun swivel-tastic. As for what Clara does, she has the yellow highchair I painted for her, so we just move that around to various places (peninsula, dining table, living room pedestal table) and she eats in that. Girl gets around. Haha.
In short: Party at our house. We’ll bring the stools. And probably say SOLD a lot.
Oh and we just used these things on the feet. Just to make sure they don’t do evil things to our cork floor. So far, so good.
Now that we have more natural wood in the room, we’re thinking about bringing some up onto the floating shelves on the other side of the kitchen, just because the wood mirror and our new (old) swivel stools have warmed things up and added so much texture and “homey-ness” that we’d love to add some to the open shelves too. Maybe just in the form of some rustic wooden salad bowls…
Have you guys gotten ahead of yourself and ended up getting something for a future project just because it was too good to pass up? And once you got it home did it end up shifting other things around in surprising ways? So funny how things mutate as ya go. It’s like our house is a ninja turtle.
Pssst- Our newest addition of Clara Conversations is up over on Young House Life. We might be biased, but we think she’s is pretty hilarious…
Alyssa says
I love those stools. They have the potential to look so dowdy in the wrong home, but mixed with your clean, bright aesthetic, they are amazing. I love natural wood. Well done!
Alyssa
GiddyBrightDay.com
Sarah says
Eeekkkk! Love, LOVE, LOVE them!
These new little tweaks are turning your beautiful kitchen into my dream kitchen!
I believe every room needs some wood element to it.
And I love everything you’ve been re-adjusting in there!
And I loved your blue one’s too. But, these make my heart skip a beat!
Erin Frost says
It’s funny how you two keep jumping with both feet into bold color choices but usually make a correction later on that brings you back to a more conservative and sophisticated palette. I make similar attempts in our home and often when able, I replace them with vintage or better “quality” items that have more
presence. Happy to see that others struggle to find a balance in their homes too.
qaseh gifts says
Absolute wow factor! You guys never cease to amaze me with your great ideas!
Beth says
SWEET SCORE! I love the way the wood tone of the stools changes the entire vibe of the room. It also seems to mellow out the wall color too now – I love using pops of color, but the art studio stools’ tealy color against that yellowish-greenish hue of the walls just doesn’t meld as well as those new stools do. Love it!
Do you worry that your ‘unit’ has changed? (The best way to define that and make sense is to just quote where I heard it from, “unit is defined by the amount of money you think in multiples of; if you perceive a thousand dollars as ten sets of 100 dollars, that makes your unit 100 dollars. In college, a twenty dollar bill is at least four sets of five dollar bills, and maybe even 20 sets of one dollar bills, if you remember that one dollar can buy you four packages of Nutty Bars.” ~ John Mayer) Do you find your ‘unit’ has increased over time or remained constant? I worry as I get more into a design, my budget slips a bit!
YoungHouseLove says
Sometimes I think that we’re more into spending money on something if we love it and don’t think we can find anything like it, but thanks to things like craigslist and thrift stores, I think if anything we have taught ourselves how to spend less over time by hunting in formerly-unknown-to-us places or learning a skill that can save us money (ex: our first house’s kitchen was over 17K and our current house’s kitchen reno was under 7K!)
xo,
s
House Crazy Sarah says
The wood stools look great in the kitchen – they bring in some texture and natural color. I would have done the same thing! Looking forward to seeing what you do with the blue chairs!
I love how your house is always evolving!
Katharine says
Love it! The new stools really warm up the space and give the kitchen a nice, homey feeling (which is quite different from a homely feeling — funny how one letter can make such a difference, haha).
Jillian {Her Split Ends} says
I LOVE it when crazy things happen! So meant to be. can’t wait to see the sunroom shenanigans!!
Cheers
~ Jillian
http://www.hersplitends.com
Nora says
Stoolboomed again! How can I like the blue ones so much, but also possibly love these more? It feels like cheating. Have you guys thought about putting some kind of wheels that lock on the bar? I have friends that made theirs with wheels and they drag it all over for parties.
YoungHouseLove says
Ooh that’s smart! We thought about attaching ours to the wall (so it’s just a floating plank of wood with some brackets holding it up) – will keep ya posted!
xo,
s
Nora says
I’d actually describe this bar/tabley thing as a pub table-height (or chest height on me anyway-I’m about 5’5″), rustic-farmhouse-table-look bar/tableish deal. It has skinner legs and wooden pieces on the bottom that you can put your feet on. It doesn’t have any wall kind of boards that a normal bar would have, so it’s not heavy looking. I have no idea if any of that makes sense.
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks Nora! Very interesting! We’ll definitely keep you posted with what we end up doing!
xo,
s
Heather | Like A Cup Of Tea says
I LOVE those stools. I’m so glad you aren’t going to paint them either (at least at this point). Those look awesome in the kitchen and make it feel a lot more homey and less magazine/steril/ohmygodIcanttouchanything. I love traditional, cozy, wood pieces mixed with clean lines – so wood stools next to a white counter are my cup of tea. These look beautiful and I definitely agree the blue stools will look great in the sun room with a chunky wooden counter!
Amy says
They totally work there!! I can never get luck with Craigslist- I’ll have to keep my fingers crossed bc I’m hoping to find a cool older dresser/armoir to make over. Can’t wait to see the sun room!
kate says
Not that I didn’t like your blue stools, but I like these sooooo much better. +1,000 for ya’ll!
Crystal @ 29 Rue House says
I love those stools and I love those warm wood tones in your kitchen!
Kitty says
They look great and I love how they help all the other little wooden accents in the room stand out. Great choice and what a bargain!
Anne says
wow, these really are great! they not only bring more warmth to your modern kitchen, but they also match the interior design of the other rooms: either way you look, the wood theme is continued in each direction (flying duck, frame, chopping boards,…) i love it!
kimberly says
love, love, love!!! What a great find! I would say that half of what I buy ends up somewhere other than where it was intended to go, lol.
Sandra T says
Love love love these stools!! They are awesome! Btw, how many places to sit do you have in your house now? Like you guys sit alot, right? ha ha
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahahhahaha, we’re perchers for sure! The funny thing is that of all the chairs in the house, the ones at the island probably get the most use since we’ll slip into them just for cereal or to pay a bill or to approve comments on our laptops. I’m sitting in them right now :)
xo
s
Amanda says
I am seriously jealous right now, those stools are awesome!! <3
Elizabeth says
Wow, I’m always amazed by some people’s Craigslist luck. You guys deserve it, though. I’m a big believer in Karma :) They look fabulous.
susan says
Wooden stools + wooden cutting board + wooden mirror above fireplace = looking good!
Kay says
Over the weekend I attended a flea market and I came across a single metal stool for $10. It was definitely antique and had a cement colored paint job. My immediate thought was “I could put that in the kitchen! We’ll spray paint it!” I claimed the chair for a mere $8 and I found a bright red spray paint to use. It was my Young House Love moment of the weekend :D
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, I love it!
xo
s
Randa says
Those wooden stools ARE gorgeous… I liked the blue stools a lot, but these are even warmer in your kitchen. And like you said, now you have options. Nice!
Question: do you ever have trouble with the felt pads slipping out of place after a while? We’ve got something similar on the bottom of our dining room chairs, where we have only hardwood floor, no rug. For some reason our felt pads can have a tendency to move/slip off the bottom of the chair legs… it can be annoying.
YoungHouseLove says
We had that issue with the white chairs in our living room and John used a tiny finishing nail banged deep into the pad (so it wouldn’t scratch the floor) to hold them in place. You probably could use something like crazy glue too if that’s easier. Hope it helps!
xo
s
Megan C says
Suggestion for the open shelves – I don’t know about where you live, but in my neck of the woods (Amish-central PA) our thrift stores are full-to-bursting with carved wooden animals. Maybe your love of white ceramic animals can branch out into rustic wood animal love! A few wood animals, a standing wood cutting board, a wood salad bowl – bada boom, bada bing – BALANCE! :) LOVE the swivel stools, BTW. We are planning a peninsula build in our kitchen soon and I have had a question about your school supply stools for a while. Could the circles on the seats be removed, covered in fabric and replaced? How are those attached? Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
I love that idea about the wood animal. Haha. Now you’re speaking my language ;)
As for the other stools, we couldn’t easily remove those seat circles, so we left them on and just sprayed them along with everything else, but perhaps someone else has removed them and covered them in fabric? We were nervous about damaging them since they were sort of a thin plywood/cardboard-ish material.
xo,
s
Vivian says
AWESOME Craigslist find …. they are modern and rustic at the same time. I think they really warm the room in a cool unexpected way. Kudos!
Carra says
YES I often buy things in advance for some sort of future project! In fact, these exact same stools were sitting my aunt and uncle’s garage for so long that when they finally decided to pass them on (I mentioned my love for them at least 64 times) they passed them on to me. After a year of them sitting in my garage I passed them on because alas I had no room for two extra stools in my house. They now live in the coziest beachside cottage known to man, AKA my 27 year old brother and his wife’s newlywed bungalow :)
Love that you guys found some, and can not wait to see that newly redone sunroom as it comes into it’s own!
Jackie Jade says
Don’t you just LOVE when Craigslist comes through?!
YoungHouseLove says
Yes, yes, yes! Makes all that not-gonna-work stuff worth sifting to!
xo,
s
Jess says
Omg! I love those stools in your kitchen! It makes the space look mature and fun at the same time! Great design eye, guys!
Esther says
I know everyone is already telling you this, but these stools really do make so much more sense in your kitchen! I loved the splash of color with the blue ones, but these make all the difference
Kay says
Flashback to my childhood (I’m old, talking mid-70s here). We had two of those stools, but by the time I was around, they had been moved to outside use and lived on the back screened porch. I’m from south Louisiana, so we had a lot of outdoor crab boils, shrimp boils, crawfish boils, etc. with lots of family and friends who needed to sit. How great to see what they would have looked like before being weather-worn. I also think it’s funny that stuff that was put out of the house for being dated in my childhood is now cool and retro in your house.
YoungHouseLove says
I love that! What a small world!
xo,
s
Erica says
See.he.he.he.heriously you guys. Those are amazing. Great find! LOVE THEM. LOVE YOU! :)
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thanks! Love you too Erica!
xo,
s
Katy says
I’ve never commented before… but I’ve been a faithful reader for a while now. When I saw this post and that first shot of those stools I gasped! I LOVE them in your kitchen. Your blue ones were cute, too. But these are just amazing in the space (actually, they’d be amazing just about anywhere, I think). So warm and lovely and great looking with the floors, that amazing basket lamp, the mirror and the crisp white. I just love it! I was also a bit excited because I recently picked up one of those stools at a thrift store (they probably didn’t know what they had because it was only $10!) I only have one, and it’s in the corner of our living room, but I’d be lying if I said it didn’t make me a little excited that I have the same piece of furniture as you guys :) You’re such a fun family. Thanks for sharing all your fun decorating adventures!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Katy, you’re so sweet!
xo,
s
Amber says
I am DROOLING over these stools! I loved the blue ones, but these are just…wow!
Do you miss the pop of blue though? I think I would…some blue cushions or other accessories in the kitchen might be fun, to tie in with the dining room built ins.
YoungHouseLove says
I have a big blue cushion in the gray chair in the corner, so it just moved back a few feet. Haha.
xo,
s
Emily says
I have to say, I wasn’t totally sold on the blue stools. The wood warms up the room so much…..what a great trade (and a good reminder to me that all rooms are works in progress)!
Laura says
Perfect!!! I can’t tell you how great those look! The other stools were really cool, but now that these are in place it’s huge how much more balance they add to the room. Fantastic find!!!!
bekah says
Oooooh nice find! I like the way they play off the big mirror you hung as well!
Nancy Sorg says
Love this pallet bar:
http://www.junkmarketstyle.com/item/42472/pallet-pleasing-project
… and love your website too!
YoungHouseLove says
Cool!
xo
s
Tirsa says
While I love that you love your new stools, I miss the joy that the blue ones brought to the room. They contributed so much to the cheeriness of your kitchen.
Yep, there are a number of items around our house that I have bought for future projects. Sometimes you just have to jump in and get what you love when it’s available. (Or lament for a very long time. :-) ) We learned this lesson the hard way with a painting we did not buy and still think of 12 years later. Ha, ha
Dani says
The stools are great but the best part of this post is that you were talking about your projects in bed! It’s great to see couples that enjoy little moments like that and share the excitement of something as simple as four stools!
RLR says
My parents had these stools when I was a kid! Thanks for the flashback to childhood this morning :)
LaTonya says
Wow! These are phenomenal! You seem to find amazing things on Craigslist in your area (vent hood, console table, etc). Were I am (I won’t mention so people don’t get offended) there seems to be more junk than great finds. I love the look of these stools in your kitchen better than the metal chairs. The wood tone is a fantastic match to your cork floor and an amazing contrast to the white countertop. LOVE IT!!
Sophie from France says
oh yeah! That’s exactly what the kitchen needed: more wood!
Emily E says
I stinkin love these stools! I was a big fan of the metal stools but these are so much more awesome! LOVE!
Janna says
I like that they add a little “age” to your new kitchen. Great find!
Kara says
I LOVE LOVE LOVE the way those stools look!
Kasey M. says
My boyfriend and I just moved into an apartment over the weekend. Before he lived in a tiny studio, but would still purchase large pieces of furniture that he knew we would regret not having later. For example, my singer sewing table and four (yes FOUR) library card catelogues. The livingroom is finally unpacked and set up. The card catelogues are stacked two high and make a giant credenza/bar on one wall. The singer table is under our wall mount TV and is a convenient place to set down your laptop when you want to stream something on the big TV. It is the coolest living room I could ever imagine. I am SO GLAD he picked those things up when he could (singer table = $40, card catelogues = Free, rescued from the curb).
YoungHouseLove says
I love hearing about thrifty finds like that! Congrats!
xo,
s
Kasey M. says
Thanks! We’re all about the local thrift store and flea markets.
Vicki says
Wow! These are AMAZNG! They bring a new level of sophistication to your already darling kitchen. Great great find. I’m super jealous!
Christina @ Homemade Ocean says
Oh I am SO EXCITED to hear that the sunroom is on the list of things we will be seeing soon!!!!!
I have been waiting patiently :)
And it is times like these when I have to profess my love for Craigslist…..seriously. I love it more than I love donuts, and that is alot.
Cute “new” kitchen!
Harper says
LOVE the addition of the lampshade and now the stools. I really liked the remodel before, but now it has that *something* that makes it truly special! Obsessed!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks Harper!
xo,
s
Rachel Schultz says
I love it! Definitely an upgrade.
Erin says
While they look more comfy than the blue stools, I hate to say I’m not a fan. I think the blue stools just added such a great pop of color and really gave your kitchen a modern/unexpected touch. To each their own! Enjoy your new stools!