HEY BARTENDER...

The sistas are coming to town....

well, my real sisters.....and during the holidays, one sista was here & we both laughed cuz we were falling off our bar stool seats, literally because they're too dinky.
In a few weeks, my sistas are coming back and it's high time I get off my tush & get comfier seats at the kitchen bar!

We currently have these black saddle seat stools that look fine, but just aren't comfy, and we use this spot alot.
We really need to get a style that has low back support, deeper seat & cushier on the tush.
I'm not really wanting anything with a high back because I like the low profile so that you see into the kitchen .
For awhile now, I've been eyeing an upholstered version from Ballards:The frame above, with nailheads, but in this fabric below and with a black ebony finish on the wood frame (not the brown cognac frame shown) :
They've got a metal kickplate which is nice for wear & tear too.
Anyways, Steven talked me out of them because even though they'd look great with our kitchen and the existing kitchen rug,
they're just not practical with kids and pets.
We have alot of pasta meals, so it's gotta be pasta sauce friendly, know what I mean? I really love the comfort of upholstered seats and the punch of a modern graphic print. But it would have to be a Sunbrella or Crypton type fabric & I'm not sure I want to wait on them plus get into the custom expense, so that's out.

So, I started thinking that maybe we just need a faux leather stool, one that is EZ wipe & clean.
I like this one from Overstock because it's priced right, has great nailhead trim and has the user friendly chrome kickplate.....but what do you think about the quilted leather?
Another one I found is a steal at Urban Home. The picture looks like it has a high back, but it's actually a low profile back and would be great in this "oyster" color:
Overstock has some similar ones too, but neither have the chrome kick plate:


I really like this fun modern style because of the 360 swivel, air hydraulic piston for height adjustment, and different colors, from Overstock:
I spotted this cool Jetson style on the An Eye for Design blog & they're from Target:

Or what do you think about this swivel style from Home Decorators Collection? I love the industrial retro look & I could add a cushion to the stool:
I could also use the lattice back style from West Elm and add a colorful cushion too.
Hmmm, I like them because they carry on the same "fret work" motif of the fabrics and table in my piano room:

Just not sure about more of the espresso color in this area because our sofa eats up the area with espresso!
Well, for now, til I figure it out, I'll use the creamy wood stools from my guesthouse kitchen:
The black saddle seat stools will then go into the guesthouse while we update the guesthouse. (need to sweeten the suite a tad for my sistas....my BIL comes in town tonight too....so maybe i need to work on this today & get off the computer!)

Ya know, the creamy white stools are "ok" to bring into the main house, and can't go wrong with this classic style of counter stool:

1) they've got the back support,
2) they're low profile,
3) color works for now,
4) and they have a user friendly cane seat

BUT.......they're just not that "fashion forward" and modern for me anymore.
I have had them awhile, so maybe I'm tired of them.

Now, the other thing I could do is paint them to give them some punch. Today on House of Turquoise, I spotted this IKEA barstool

transformed with paint here:
This shade of turquoise is just a tad too saturated for me. Although I love the look for a beachhouse , but maybe for this Austin kitchen they should be a pale yellow , green or black....or maybe a very pale turquoise? So what if Pantone said turquoise was the "it" color of 2010? It's a classic to me! And I think my Austin farmhouse has the coastal feel anyways....no rules here!

See a Decorator's problem? We see and know too many styles.
So, what would you do? Save your money and use my creamy white stools? Paint them?
Or bite the 2011 bullet and just spend the money for newer modern ones?

Personally, my fave ones are the industrial metal swivel ones. I like the look with the metals in the kitchen. And the fact that they swivel is great because you can turn around ez and talk with people sitting at the dining room table too. They look indestructible too!
They're a great mix of cottage & modern....and that's basically the style in my old farmhouse.
Let me know your thoughts. I would love to hear what you like and what you'd do!

Until then, be sure to check out the JVW HOME store HERE & grab some new pillows for the new year!
Doesn't your greige interior of 2010, need a 2011 pop of color, at least in one of your rooms?

And if you need some design help redoing your interiors for the new year, then email me here!

All the best,
xoxox,

P.S. You can always click on photos to enlarge them once...then click again and it enlargens them more!
.....but if you're a blog writer , read on!:
I read the most wonderful archived post today from Maria at Colour Me Happy !
Maria gives loads of blogging advice & the importance of having your images set on a wide screen, I guess so you don't have to click on them to enlarge.......Maria mentions having your blog set on wide screen. I wished I would've known this before!! Thanks Maria, and I hope to figure out the tech side to it and get the wider screen this week. If you want to know how to make your blog appear larger and better, read Maria's fab article post here.






Images via Clementson Photography, House of Turquoise, West Elm, Target, Overstock, Ballards Design, Piffe