Buying Metal Stools From An Industrial School Supply Shop: a house log

John hoped me to work Stool Boom into the post title because of this video (which he requests that you all check it out so that you can hum the song while reading this post). Anyway, now in stool news… we got them for our peninsula! And we are so excited about 1) where we found them, and 2) the price (because four stools can certainly be a budget breaker if they are priced at $250 a pop). But first, let us chat about the kitchen budget in general for a second…

We have in fact spent some real money in certain areas like:

• new Corian counters (around $1700)
• new stainless appliances (around $2213 with the new microwave but not including a range hood that we still need)
• new cork flooring ($848 including underlayment)
• new backsplash tile (and plenty of it, since we are taking it to the ceiling on one wall – around $280)
• tearing down a wall to create an extra wide doorway into the dining room ($700 to the contractor plus $90 for the drywall/trim that we did ourselves)
• in-progress total for the big stuff: $5,831 (still need a range hood, new lighting, floating shelves, art, etc)
  

And like the majority of renovators, we are also choosing areas to save, like:

• reusing our existing cabinets (they are solid oak, full of interior upgrades, and in strong shape)
• reconfiguring the layout ourselves (we had lively pushing the pantry around and building a cabinet to enclose the fridge)
• priming/painting the cabinets ourselves (we did it in our first house along with in the office for our built-in desk and truly dig the wrapped up product)
• installing as much as we can (like some of the new lighting that we have on the agenda, and those cork floors that we plan to lay ourselves)
• using as many discounts and coupons as we can (we stacked discounts when we got our appliances and our counters, along with using a coupon code on our backsplash tile, snagging clearance cork, and getting three contractor estimates to shave over 3K (!) off the highest one)
• selling things we no longer need on craigslist for money to put back into the makeover (so far we have sold our old kitchen table, our old granite, and the black over-the-range microwave that came with our house for a total of $815)

We still have a backsplash to install, cork flooring to lay, new lighting to buy/hang, and floating shelves + a range hood to go up – so admittedly it looks kinda crazy for the amount of money that we have spent (since many of the elements that we have purchased are not in yet). But in a month or two the kitchen should look significantly more wrapped up and upgraded. At least that is the plan! It is all simply a work in progress until then…

But were not we talking about stools? Back to that subject. First we debated something clear/acrylic but heard from a few people who said they truly disliked how scratched and foggy theirs got with everyday use and only found a few options that we liked (all of which were over $100 a pop). So we went back to the drawing board, which in short meant examining a ton of inspiration rooms. Which (duh) allowed us to pick up on a fairly obvious theme. Apparently we have a thing for industrial metal stools. We also like that they are not wood since there are a ton of wood-legged chairs in the nearby dining room, so a contrasting metal look is a pleasant variation (so not everything feels heavy and wood-y).

For functional reasons we chose that our stools had to have backs (so Clara’s booster seat can snap onto one, so bigger children can more easily sit up there, and even for the brought in support/comfort they’ll provide for adults). So it eliminated some of the cool backless ones like the stools in this photo from atlantahomesmag.com (we have seen similar versions on overstock for anyone interested). But that decision still left us wide open to cool science-y stools like these from Restoration Hardware. Too bad they are $375 each, making four of them a budget breaking $1,500 (sniffle).

So we set off to find some thrifty (preferably secondhand) options for our kitchen – hopefully at around $60 each or less (you know, in an ideal world where ideal $60 stools abound). We in fact found an excellent vintage one at a local thrift store for 50 beans (it was even counter height and not bar height, which is what we need) but there was only one and we needed four. Wop wop. So we took to the internet to try to find some sort of industrial warehouse or bulk manufacturer who made science-y counter height stools in our price point. What do ya know, we found these folks on a school supply website of all places:

I know, I know – it looks more than a little nerdy in that pic (especially because they placed the backrest especially high- it is adjustable). And because it is not in a delicious room like the other stools above (nothing looks as glamorous when it is cut out on white). But oddly tall adjustable backrests and white backgrounds aside, there was simply something charming about getting lab stools from a school supply place.

They are admittedly not exactly the same (aka: not nearly as remarkable in shape or finish) as the stools in the above inspiration images, but those were sadly (quite) out of our budget. And we had a feeling in the right room these affordable folks could truly be elevated (you know we are all about mixing high and low, so things like the new counters, ceiling height backsplash, new appliances, fairly pendant lights over the peninsula, and cork flooring should truly elevate them). And the price was riiight. They were $33 each (we got the fixed height 24″ ones). Which means for $168 (including tax and shipping) we got four stools delivered to our door. Here they are in our still quite raw and fully unfinished kitchen (but simply scroll up to see how metal stools can look fairly darn cool in more wrapped up spaces).

As for their finish, they look pleasant with the stainless appliances, but once the room comes together more I am not above tweaking them if I think they’ll look better that way (they were $33 after all…). I have certainly contemplated these four options:

• trying a deeper color, like the brown and oil-rubbed-bronze Elle Decor stools that are up a few photos (thankfully metal takes spray paint truly well, and any painted metal chairs that you’d buy from a store are essentially simply spray primed and painted in thin and even coats). I was thinking I could even upholster the seats with rough chocolate leather or something, along with using ORB spray on the leggier metal parts.
• spraying them all white with wipable leather or vinyl upholstered seats if we want them to gleam like the counters (we are contemplating a deeper toned accent treatment under the peninsula behind them, so white could truly pop – more on that in a minute).
• somehow roughing them up by scuffing, sanding, and perhaps even tinting them with some sort of metal stain or glaze that would give them more of an aged/beat up look like some of the more pricey antique-ish stools out there (they could then be sealed with poly so they would not rub off on anyone)
• spraying them shiiiiiny shiiiiiny chrome like the ones in the Cote De Texas photo a few pics back

We will have to wait and see as the room evolves. You know we like to tweak/learn/figure it out as we go. Our house is like a big puzzle and I am Nancy Drew… and perhaps John’s Scooby Doo? Wait perhaps Burger is Scooby and Clara is Nancy Drew. And I am Angela Lansbury. And John is Mulder. Or is he Skully? I consistently forget which one is the guy. Update: the guy is Mulder. Thanks google.

Ugh- but those orange-y wood cabinets are truly cramping our style. We are in fact working on trim and baseboards and puttying and sanding right now… which means priming and painting are simply around the corner! So I know some of you might not “get” the stools at all right now (mom!) but I promise when the rest of the room starts to make more sense around them, you might come around. Simply give us a chance to get the room a bit more developed. Fairly please? When in doubt, simply remember that our first house eventually looked like this, but while it was in-progress it looked like this. Haha.

We especially enjoy how the two adjoined spaces do not look too wood riddled since we skipped wood stools for the kitchen and went with metal for some pleasant variety.

And although they look a bit light on their feet (thanks to the airy metal construction) these dudes are solid. Not wobbly. Not lightweight. They are lab stools for goodness sake. So there is no flimsy feeling because they are made to last decades in classrooms with people/teens/teachers of all sizes sitting/beating on them. Most likely while using bunsen burners.

In the comfort department they are in fact truly comfortable (there is a bit of flex in the back rest, which is truly pleasant). I mean it is not like sitting in a padded armchair, but for stools at a counter we think they are ideal. And Clara’s booster chair snapped right into the one on the end, so that was pleasant (it said it worked with any chair with a back, but it was good to have confirmation that she was pleasant and secure up there). Yup, that means we have all been eating (and generally hanging out) at the peninsula these days!

Look, here are Clara and John making cookies at the ol’ new peninsula (cannot see much of the stool, but she’s all strapped in and glad to assist stir). More on what remarkable concoction they were making here.

Speaking of Clara’s assistance, she also “helped” us assemble the stools. Check out our little leftie in action:

And now for a Burger photobomb:

He could not resist getting in on the action too.

Once we have some remarkable (we are actively on the hunt) pendant lights hanging over them above the peninsula things should start coming together a little more. We sort of have something like this in mind, but we are certainly not 100% settled yet.

Oh and speaking of the peninsula, a few of you could not tell from the installation photos that we got the corners of it rounded, so here is a pic from the top with a penny on the edge to show how they are softly curved. Hooray for no sharp corners (for the bean’s noggin and our hips!).

But back to the stools (I am all over the place today, huh?). Have you scored a deal from a school supply company or other unexpected source? Have you lately purchased new stools or chairs? Are you into the whole rough/ industrial mixed with fancy/polished look? It is certainly not for everyone, but it is funny how many of our inspiration kitchens are exactly that.

Psst- Ahhhhhh- who saw the Dexter finale last night? Do not want to give anything away, but it was craaaaaazy! We are still taking about it.