Kitchen Stools

I’m not sure how it happens, but somehow, slowly, as we design kitchens and add furniture and look at magazines and get ideas, we end up with bar stools that look fabulous and are chic and cool and modern and we forget what a stool was all about when we were kids.

We forget about the folding kitchen stool in grandma’s kitchen that she’d pull out while she made a pie and we’d sit on spellbound watching her. Then we grew up and started working and bought our pies from a deli or grocery store and delegated folding kitchen stools to the realms of oblivion along with plaid aprons and wooden rolling pins.

Kitchen Utility Stools

But it’s never too late to give our kids a surprise (hopefully before we become grandparents) and show them just how fun kitchen utility stools can be to stand on so that little hands can reach sudsy water and help (or pretend to help) wash dishes, or to pull up to the counter when their friends drop by to eat dripping popsicles.

Kitchen Stools for sleepy Sunday Mornings (What?)

The great thing is that kitchen bar stools that are practical for the kids don’t have to be tasteless vinyl or plain metal folding things that you want to hide. Wooden kitchen stools also fold and have natural wood seats to match modern décor. They don’t have to be an eyesore just because the little ones can kick them or dribble ice-cream all over them or stand on them to reach a box of cereal without waking you up Sunday morning.

A kitchen step stool, funny as it may sound, may actually help you get more sleep if the kids don’t have to get you up at 6:00 to serve them some coco puffs before they watch cartoons. And don’t underestimate the value of a kitchen island with stools where your young ones can snack and feel relaxed, and make a mess, without getting scolded for messing up the dinning area or living room just before guests arrive.

Step Stools for the Height Challenged

There are kitchen stools that will be very practical even if you don’t have children, but happen to be a little height challenged. Kitchen step stools, which also fold like the other utility stools, can allow you to reach the topmost kitchen shelf without calling for help. And they’re pretty safe because they usually have rubber runners on the steps so you don’t slip and the legs have rubber suction cups on the tips so the stool won’t swoosh out from under you.

Warm Fizzy Stool Memories

Stools that expand or fold or convert into steps aren’t just for grannies’ kitchens of days gone by. How wonderful it would be if your children (and their children) have warm fuzzy memories of spending time with you in the kitchen, sitting, kneeling, crouching, slouching or standing on your modern kitchen barstools sharing time with YOU because they can be right alongside whatever you do.