I like the second stools pictured the best. I would have to check any stools for comfort, stability and sturdiness, though, before I bought them.

I love the second stools as well.

I like the second stools very much, but wonder if their charm won't be lost against cherry cabinets. Cherry seems formal to me, the stools seem more rustic. If you are doing an island or peninsula with cherry base, I'd think about how the stools would look against that wood.

I like the contrast of the first ones. I LOVE cool colors against cherry because they make both the wood and the contrasting color pop. But, I would have a very hard time personally buying upholstered bar stools, even though I love them, because my kids primarily use them at the counter. If they are upholstered in an ultra durable, stain resistant fabric, it might sell me. Otherwise I would probably opt for something in a black metal or stainless look to break up the wood.

Our inexpensive bar stools are covered in an ultra durable, stain resistant fabric and boy am I glad they are! Just a wipe down with a wet microfiber cloth is all it takes to bring them back to new. Another important feature, for me, would be a swivel bar stool.

I also like the look of the second stools best, but as others have said, not sure if I would put them up against the cherry. Love your cabinets, love your soapstone BTW!

Regarding the upholstered stools, I know I would be afraid of kids + fabric but I might also be on the overcautious end of things.

In our house there is not much continuity of furniture style from one room to the next in terms of everything being MCM or farmhouse or French country, because none of the rooms are any one particular style. Every room has a blend of thrift-store finds, family antiques, Crate and Barrel/IKEA, etc.

I would not recommend my house as a model for anyone else's, other than to say when I am in a house that is all primitives or all Victorian or all French country or whatever, it often feels to me like I'm on a stage set rather than in a personal home. I lack the discipline and love too many different things to pull it off myself.

Of the three stools you show, I also like the second one the best.

In our previous home we had natural cherry shaker cabinets with dark counters. At our island and raised peninsula we had different stools. Since we had a lot of shaker furniture, we went with these at the island as they mimicked our dining room chairs in the adjoining room.

Not sure if you'd consider backless stools. These also swivel and are very comfortable.

I think our styles are similar. We have a mix of Stickley, Room & Board, Crate and Barrel, and thrift/flea/antique in our house. I like the first two stools you posted but if you have little kids, I always worry about open back stools like #2. I picture them sliding out the back! If you can get the top stools in a fabric like Sunbrella, that would be my choice.

I'll say this, too. When we did our kitchen over, I didn't want to spend a lot for stools either. (We also have a cherry island.) So I bought inexpensive painted stools...which never looked right, plus they weren't comfortable. A couple of years later I replaced them with good quality cherry stools -- which I wished I had just splurged on in the first place. We still have them and they look great almost 10 years later.

Easy to clean is a must!

I definitely like the contrast of 1, but 2 the best. But I think ya'll are right that it may be too much wood on wood, which is definitely what was buzzing in the back of my mind. I'm also still unsure if we should go with straight stool or backless (and the myriad of other options that are available. But I can comb thru the gw archives for that).

So since none of those in my price range were really "right" I continued looking. And I found some choices I really like......

More metal, but still with some wood (except 2 which is polyurethane, but it is also cushioned....)

These also happen to be twice what I budgeted/wanted to spend. Naturally.

After just spending months scouring stores for the perfect counter stools, I came to only one solid conclusion: no upholstery or leather. In fact, I also never understood upholstered dining chairs or rugs under dining tables for the same reason: food falls on it, harder to clean, why bother!