BH | Studio Castleton Barrel-Back Counter Stool

A tall seat with a back and arms is a kitchen idea of the twentieth century. The high stool moved from the soda fountain and the cocktail bar into the home in the 1950s and 1960s, when the breakfast bar and then the kitchen island made the counter a place to sit, talk and eat.

This is the counter-height version: the same curving back, open beneath the top rail, over a padded seat, with arms that drop into tall upholstered sides and a metal foot rail fixed low between them. Arms and back mean you can sit comfortably for a whole breakfast, not just a quick coffee. The bentwood frame is covered in a woven fabric. A 25-inch seat suits a standard kitchen island or a counter-height table, it is rated to 300 lbs, foot pins keep floors unmarked, and it comes fully assembled.

Draw it up to the island for breakfast, the paper and a second cup of coffee, or to a counter-height table in a family kitchen where children do homework while supper simmers. It is a useful extra seat when the kitchen fills up. Mink, a heathered mid-brown with a warm, country feel, looks right with butcher block, cream cabinets and copper pans. This listing is for one stool.