Pliant Stool
Antique 19th Century Italian Victorian Stools
Giltwood
Antique 18th Century Italian Rococo Stools
Walnut
Vintage 1910s French Industrial Benches
Iron
People Also Browsed
21st Century and Contemporary Swedish Mid-Century Modern Table Lamps
Textile
21st Century and Contemporary Unknown Louis XVI Loveseats
Wood
Antique 19th Century English Victorian Bird Cages
Copper, Iron, Bronze
Antique Late 19th Century English Game Tables
Walnut
Antique Late 19th Century Louis XV Wall Mirrors
Giltwood
Antique Late 19th Century American Late Victorian Ladders
Steel, Iron
Vintage 1980s Indian Mid-Century Modern Stools
Wrought Iron
Antique Early 18th Century Italian Baroque Screens and Room Dividers
Canvas, Wood
Early 20th Century Italian Stools
Iron
Late 20th Century Regency Stools
Mahogany
Vintage 1980s Norwegian Chairs
Metal
Antique 1840s English Porcelain
Porcelain
Early 20th Century French Art Nouveau Barware
Metal, Silver, Silver Plate
Antique Late 19th Century French Louis XV Commodes and Chests of Drawers
Marble, Bronze
Antique 19th Century French Louis XV Chairs
Wood
21st Century and Contemporary French Louis XV Chandeliers and Pendants
Quartz, Rock Crystal, Bronze
Recent Sales
2010s South African Modern Stools
Metal
Early 20th Century French Louis XV Stools
Giltwood
Antique 18th Century Swedish Baroque Stools
Wood
Vintage 1970s French Modern Stools
Brass, Bronze
Antique 19th Century French Empire Stools
Vintage 1950s French Stools
Brass
Vintage 1910s French Industrial Benches
Iron
Antique 19th Century French Stools
Upholstery, Giltwood
Vintage 1960s French Stools
20th Century French Footstools
Upholstery
Early 2000s South African Arts and Crafts Stools
Metal
2010s American Stools
Metal
Finding the Right stools for You
Stools are versatile and a necessary addition to any living room, kitchen area or elsewhere in your home. A sofa or reliable lounge chair might nab all the credit, comfort-wise, but don’t discount the roles that good antique, new and vintage stools can play.
“Stools are jewels and statements in a space, and they can also be investment pieces,” says New York City designer Amy Lau, who adds that these seats provide an excellent choice for setting an interior’s general tone.
Stools, which are among the oldest forms of wooden furnishings, may also serve as decorative pieces, even if we’re talking about a stool that is far less sculptural than the gracefully curving molded plywood shells that make up Sōri Yanagi’s provocative Butterfly stool.
Fawn Galli, a New York interior designer, uses her stools in the same way you would use a throw pillow. “I normally buy several styles and move them around the home where needed,” she says.
Stools are smaller pieces of seating as compared to armchairs or dining chairs and can add depth as well as functionality to a space that you’ve set aside for entertaining. For a splash of color, consider the Stool 60, a pioneering work of bentwood by Finnish architect and furniture maker Alvar Aalto. It’s manufactured by Artek and comes in a variety of colored seats and finishes.
Barstools that date back to the 1970s are now more ubiquitous in kitchens. Vintage barstools have seen renewed interest, be they a meld of chrome and leather or transparent plastic, such as the Lucite and stainless-steel counter stool variety from Indiana-born furniture designer Charles Hollis Jones, who is renowned for his acrylic works. A cluster of barstools — perhaps a set of four brushed-aluminum counter stools by Emeco or Tubby Tube stools by Faye Toogood — can encourage merriment in the kitchen. If you’ve got the room for family and friends to congregate and enjoy cocktails where the cooking is done, consider matching your stools with a tall table.
Whether you need counter stools, drafting stools or another kind, explore an extensive range of antique, new and vintage stools on 1stDibs.
Read More
The 21 Most Popular Mid-Century Modern Chairs
You know the designs, now get the stories about how they came to be.
Fred Rigby’s Modular Seating Can Be Configured in So Many Handy Ways
The plush Cove Slipper 2.5 Seater sofa is just one of many convenient combinations from the London-based maker.
This Chubby-Chic Quilted Stool Stands on Its Own Two Feet
Sam Klemick's cool stool is edgy, cozy and environmentally sustainable all at once.
Riotous Shapes and Colors Have Made Uchronia’s Designs the Toast of Paris
Julien Sebban’s energetic design collective is radically reshaping the look of 21st-century European furniture and interiors.
Is Lionel Jadot the Willy Wonka of Upcycled Belgian Design?
From his massive collaborative workshop in a former paper factory, the designer concocts funky furniture from disused materials, as well as luxe hotel interiors like the new Mix Brussels.
Rock Your Cares Away on This Sunny Hand-Crocheted Swing
The boho-chic Enchanted Forest Swing, handmade by marginalized women from Turkey and Syria, is uplifting in every way.
Learn Why Designer Maarten Baas Set This Charles Rennie Mackintosh Chair on Fire
What happens when you do something to a piece of furniture that you shouldn’t? It becomes an entirely new object.
Eileen Gray’s Famed Cliffside Villa in the South of France Is Returned to Its Modernist Glory
After years of diligent restoration, E-1027, the designer-cum-architect’s marriage of romance and modernism, is finally complete.