Swivel Bar Stools

While it is unclear who made the first swivel bar stool, the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson, is credited with inventing the swivel chair. Not only are they fun to sit in, they make conversing with your neighbors easier, since you can turn to face them without contorting your back. Swivel bar stools add an element of neighborliness to your bar design. With non-swiveling bar stools, everyone is basically lined up and facing in the same direction rather than facing each other as with a dining table. Swivel chairs provide a more sociable atmosphere by making it easier to rotate to face one’s neighbor.

The fact that a bar stool swivels is often cleverly camouflaged. Designs that you would swear were immobile will often swivel, no matter how old fashioned their style. Swivel bar stools require a little more room at a bar than non-swiveling bar stools so that people’s knees don’t bump. This is especially true for swivel bar stools with backs or arms. While non-rotating bar stools should be spaced with 25 to 28 inches from the center of one stool to the center of the next, closer to 30 inches is preferable for swivel bar stools.

Swivel bar stools are available in any bar stool design you can imagine. From the simplest round kitchen counter bar stools to the most elaborately decorated, ornate wrought iron bar stool with leather trim, pretty much any bar stool can be made to swivel. This means that if you are going to be buying bar stools, you can choose any design you like and chances are, if you want a model just like it that swivels, one can be had.

Swivel bar stools add a welcome element of comfort to rustic designs reminiscent of the old west, and they can be a welcome oasis of comfort in a starkly modern environment. You shouldn’t be afraid to mix it up a bit, either. If you want to warm up an overtly modern decor, you can find swivel bar stools in simple designs that won’t clash with the clean lines of the other furniture, but have warm features like leather or upholstery. Conversely, you can update a very traditional, old fashioned decor by choosing swivel bar stools that bridge the gap between dated and modern without clashing.

Another style of swivel bar stool that is gaining popularity is the 36-inch bar stool. These extra tall designs are made to go with tall pub tables. These extra tall swivel bar stools do not work well with a standard 42 inch bar, because there isn’t enough room for the sitter’s legs. However, in recent years, kitchen counters, bars, and tables are being manufactured in heights of 45 to 48 inches, and for these tall pieces of furniture, the standard 30 inch swivel bar stool is too short. Many people simply like the look of tall bar stools and the new, taller counters and bars, but for tall people say over 6 foot 3, the taller swivel bar stools are much more comfortable than the standard 30 inch bar stools. As for aesthetic considerations, the long, elegant legs on extra tall swivel bar stools are eye catching and look terrific in your home or business.

Regardless of what type of decor you are buying bar stools for, you’re sure to find many suitable models with swivel seats as well as stationary seats. By being a little more comfortable for talking with the people on each side of you, swivel bar stools add a level of warmth and sociability to any style of bar stool.

Filed under: Contemporary bar stools

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