I don't have a counter height table, but at work they have this atrium with chairs and tables where you have seating choices (with the tables to match) -- regular seating height (more or less), countertop seating height, and a very low sofa thingie. I absolutely hate having to sit at either extreme when joining others over there. I find it horrendously awkward to get back off the low sofa thingie (I am six foot one with some marginal body parts...), but for some reason I really dislike the countertop setup too - even though I can slide off the seat. Give me regular seating height -- okay, I'll welcome an extra inch or two -- and I'm pretty content.

Personally, I hate counter-height tables. I find getting on and off the chairs to be quite awkward, and my feet dangle uncomfortably while I'm sitting.

We have a small counter-height table in our small kitchen and it works great for us. I am the short one in the family at 5'11". The counter height also allows us to use the table as additional prep space if needed.

If you already have a peninsula with counter height seating why do you need more? I'd take the regular table height anymore -that way people have choices. You can only fit so many stools at a counter, so I'm not sure how helpful it is to have them be able to do double duty. Also, now that my kitchen is so much nicer I eat so many more meals at my kitchen table than I used to! Maybe that's just me though.

I also find counter height tables to be very uncomfortable. I like my feet on the floor, not dangling in mid-air or resting on the skinny support bar on a stool. I don't mind an occasional seating on a stool, but wouldn't want to deal with it all the time.

When you go out - do you ever willingly choose a counter height table or do you wait for regular seating or does it sometimes depend on what kind of meal you are intending on having and who you are with?

I always avoid them if I can as I don't find them relaxing or comfortable. To have one in my home all the time would not be for me and I'd want my guests to be comfortable enough to linger. I don't think those are linger kind of tables.

Hate them

I had one and preferred it but with mom (92) I figured I needed a regular table. FYI it stopped the dog swiping things off the table

I don't like counter-height tables, and I don't like bar-height tables. I guess I just like table-height tables!

We have had a counter height table for about 10 years and it's very comfortable but I would love to replace it with a standard height table. It's easier for adults to sit and get up from the counter height chairs and can be fun to socialize at but I still find regular tables more comfortable since I'm short (5'4"). My husband is 6'5" and prefers the counter height. I hate it because it visually takes up more space and children would have to climb into the chairs...we don't have kids yet but will start the adoption process soon and once we have a toddler we'll want a new table for sure.

I don't have a counter height table but I do have a counter height island with a standard height dining table next to it and I and my family and friends all prefer counter height.

I don't know if this is a factor or not but I will mention that I have horrible knees and any sort of bending or squatting makes them hurt. So getting out of bed or off of the sofa, out of a regular chair, etc, is uncomfortable whereas with counter height I just lean forward a little and my feet are on the floor and I'm standing.

Come to think of it though, husband and all of our friends don't suffer from crappy knees and they still gravitate to counter height.

I wonder if age is a factor in any way? Or maybe if not age, just cultural shifts between generations? Us and all our friends are late 20s to early 40s and just as likely to stand in a social gathering as we are to perch. In fact, going from standing to sitting at a counter has no discernible difference as to where our upper bodies are, so sight lines remain the same. The only ones I know who always seem to want a chair to sit in are 60+.

Just a thought to ponder. Given your situation with a dining room close by, I would personally be more inclined to keep all the seating in the kitchen at the same height, but that's just me.

I've had one for 11 years now but quit using it for dining several years ago. The primary thing I dislike about it is it's impossible to scoot a chair up to the table while seated. However, the taller height is perfect for me to stand and cut out craft and sewing projects.

At 5'4", and 50-ish . hate counter height seating for long periods of time . My legs dangle and even if they have a foot rest, it's usually uncomfortable for my legs . So, I don't know if it's the age, height or combination .

mrsshayne - do you have a photo?

Hate anything other than table-high tables. They're awkward even at the best of times. And I would never blow off two generations - children and the elderly - to put one in anyway. That's just a guarantee that somewhere down the line, someone's going to get hurt.

I'm over 60 and short (5'3") and have no problem with counter height.

Texas_Gem, it may not be a generational thing but, rather, an age thing. I've noticed both my mother & MIL prefer table-height seating b/c they need a box or something other than a narrow bar to put under their feet when sitting at our counter-height peninsula. So, when those in their 20s to 40s get older, they may very well prefer table-height as well.

Bad knees - it depends...If you have long legs, then counter-height is probably better, in general; but if you have short legs, then dangling legs or knees forced to bend greatly to use the bar on a counter-height stool (if there is one) may actually be worse.

Children...it can be more dangerous for young children b/c they have to climb in/out of the seat and they are often not as coordinated overall or have great balance. If it were my children, I would prefer seating that's not so high for when (not if, when), they fall off the chair! Once they're over 6 or 7 years old, they will probably be fine sitting at counter-height.

Entertaining...I find that most people would rather stand around our peninsula or sit in the Family Room (or on the deck or porch) rather than actually sit at the peninsula.

The bottom line is that I would not want my only table space to be counter-height. If you have another one that's table-height, then getting a counter-height for an extra table is probably fine. But, if you have older family or friends, is that only table-height seating located where anyone using it will be cut off/secluded from everyone else? If so, then I might reconsider...

If you already have counter-height at an island/peninsula, do you really need another set of seats at a less than optimum height?

I am 65, and I've hated counter-height tables my entire life, so it has nothing to do with my age, my knees or anything else. I just find them awkward (to use and looking)

Hate them. These have been around for decades in bars and restaurants. I have never liked them, at any age. I don't like my feet dangling and if my feet are on the cross bars, then my that is the only position I can have them in. My husband (6'4") doesn't mind them. I am 5'7".

I don't like them at all. They make me feel like Alice in Wonderland. Also, as someone else mentioned, they take up more visual space. A pox on them.

We have a counter height peninsula that we eat at and a dining room table for holidays. DD has a counter height table and that was all they had until recently. Now they use the regular height table more often. I am not a fan of counter height. It is hard to get your chair adjusted to the right distance from the table and more often than not, my legs are dangling and it isn't comfortable. The chairs we bought for our peninsula aren't too bad but if I have work to do where I would sit for a bit, I use the regular height table so my feet can rest on the floor. I know someone that was thinking of buying one but I know she has elderly parents and hadn't thought that this could be uncomfortable for them - but even younger people can develop hip, knee or other joint issues (even temporary injuries) that could make these not as user friendly.

I'm short, in my 40s and have bad knees and have absolutely no problem with them. We chose ours for the exact same reason you mentioned...we keep our table pushed up against the wall because of limited space as my husband and I (we have no children) eat at the island all the time. If we have guests, we pull the table out and the island stools can be used at the table instead. For us it was a matter of efficiency.

mkuyekawa...ignore what appears to be a troll. Your question is a valid question.

My parents have a counter-height table in their kitchen. Because theirs is a small kitchen, my mom designed the table that way because she uses the table as spillover counter space. It worked/works fine for our family because:

1) All the kids (my sisters and I) were teenagers/tweens at the time she switched to a counter-height table.

2) Everybody in our family is tall. (My sister is the family runt at 5'7". I'm the runner-up runt at 5'9".)

3) My mom got unusually comfortable counter-height seats. I remember she went through quite a process to find ones she was happy with -- bringing various chairs home and having us all try them out. Her effort was well worth it. I have no problem hanging out on her kitchen chairs comfortably, but I generally refuse to sit at bars/counters at restaurants because I have some medical problems with my legs, and the vast majority of bar/counter chairs in restaurants are wicked uncomfortable. In particular, the seats of my mother's chairs are a big bigger than is typical, which allows the seated person a bit more flexibility for how they can position themselves on the seat. Plus my mom's chairs have a serious, full-height, comfortable chair back. Not those artistically half-height backs that functionally worthless and uncomfortable.

4) My mother frequently uses the extra counter space afforded by the table to make truly excellent pies, and we'd rather walk on lava than discourage my mother from making pie.

All in all, it's worked great for many years, and I do think it was the best solution for her kitchen. That said, her counter-height chairs are definitely not good for small children. They're too hard for kids to get in out and out of without assistance and quite precarious for them to sit on/climb into. Kids aren't careful and have easily and dramatically flipped those chairs more than once, even with really strict supervision (those kids were caught by a watchful adult and were unharmed). It's just a fundamentally taller, tippier seat that requires constant vigilance with kids.

My mom's table is actually a standard-height table with all four standard-height legs lowered into big white PVC pipes that were cut to counter height. The PVC pipes were meant to be a temporary solution to help my mom judge how tall she wanted the real, final legs to be, but the pipes matched the white undercarriage of the table so well and go so unnoticed that they've been left that way all these years. The upside is that, if my parents do have a lot of children over (like at Thanksgiving), my mom just has us lift the kitchen table back out of the PVC pipes, and sets up the kitchen table as a table-height kids table with random standard-height chairs and benches borrowed from elsewhere in the house (the piano bench, the bench in the foyer usually used for sitting on when you remove shoes, and some desk chairs from the living room/bedrooms).

I don't mind counter height - what I can't stand is bar height. Easy enough to slide on and off counter height stools where you pretty much have to climb onto the bar height ones. When we remodeled our kitchen we eliminated kitchen dining space completely and added an island with stools on three sides. We loved it and used it all the time. We also had a great/dining room space with a regular table but only used it when we had guests.

My Dad (81) loves counter height because of bad knees. My dh and ds also voted for counter height when we did the kitchen - both are 6 ft. tall. I am the runt at 5'6" and I don't mind it at all.

Jillius's #3 hits it I think. Most places I have been the seating for counter or bar height is terribly uncomfortable. Or maybe it's that you can't move around or reposition much because your legs don't touch the ground? I am in my early 40's. We snack and do computer stuff at our island but I'd not want to have that be our only space. I prefer the comfort of my dining room chairs. But I don't think I've ever sat in an awesome stool!

I love my counter height table and roomy sturdy high back chairs. But my space needs the look of a taller table. The kitchen dining area is outlined by very large rock and cedar pillars. For that reason a standard height table would be out of place looking too small.