BH | Studio Cabourg Barrel Bar Stool

Cabourg, the Normandy resort whose Grand Hôtel Proust knew so well, was built for lingering after dinner, and the high seat at the bar belongs to that same sociable life. French café and hotel bars, like their counterparts across the Atlantic, set customers up at the counter, and once kitchen islands spread through the later twentieth century the stool came home. Give one a back and arms and it stops being a perch and becomes a proper seat.

One curve makes the whole stool: an open back bends round into smooth arms, and the arms carry on down to form the curved legs, repeating the shape of the back. The seat is a 6-inch cushion of dense foam, upholstered with the frame in a soft performance velvet in Cream, Aegean, Pewter or Mushroom. A stainless steel footrest gives your feet support, and non-marking caps on the feet guard the floor. The seat is 30.5 inches high, made for a bar-height counter, and the stool is rated to hold 330 lbs.

Use it at a kitchen counter or home bar, where its back and arms make it feel more like a chair than a perch, comfortable for a long chat over a glass of wine. A single stool is also handy at a high desk or a standing-height work counter in a studio. The velvet looks luminous with white oak, marble and brass, and softens a kitchen full of hard surfaces. This listing is for one stool.