KitchenLab Kitchen, Chicago

I love the mix of very tailored traditional style and these vintage industrial stools. Paired with the white island, they keep the room from looking too matchy-matchy.

The nice thing about completely open islands with legs is that you can pull stools up to them as if they were tables. Larger, straight square profile legs are tied together with an apron along the top and a shelf along the bottom. The apron is really just a flat piece of wood that’s slightly recessed back from the leg and cabinet. Tip: It’s really important to recess that apron and shelf to create a furniture style look and to make the legs feel like legs.

Traditional This wine room could have gone the conventional route with some stately wingbacks or the like, but the schoolhouse stools mix things up a bit and impart the feeling that this is a place to eat, savor and perhaps even learn a thing or two about your drink.

Vintage. Distressed wood and metal lab stools add patina and age to a newer space. (Be careful to add casters, though — the feet on these are often beaten up and can scratch a floor.)

Another French-y industrial option that says "drawing stool" more than "bar stool." I love the play of materials and elements in this kitchen/wine room. The industrial chairs are a whimsical addition, helping the space feel anything but typical.

With a bar/drink station in the dining room, I like the idea of walls lined with wine and alcohol.