When planning our kitchen renovation we knew that knocking down walls would allow us to make our kitchen bar area a little bigger. Presently we have enough space for three bar stools.  On a day to day basis, with our little family of 3 this works just fine.

{current bar area and stools}

In thinking about how we actually live & entertain we find that most times when we have guests it generally is another couple. What we also find is that it’s typical for either myself or my big Mr. to stand on the other side of the kitchen bar either pouring drinks or basically watching on what’s cooking in the oven. This leaves four of us needing seating. Hence our decision to make the kithen bar area big enough for 4.

Looking at the dimensions of what will be the new kitchen bar we soon realized that our current bar stools will just not work. This realization set in motion an obsession (my obsession, of course) of finding just the right bar stools. They needed to not only visually take up less space than our current ones but be smaller in width and depth. Sounds easy enough in theory.

This is what I dreamed of.

The Bertoia stools were perfect in that they visually take up less space. It also helps that they are just so lovely to look at {sigh}. The reality is that they are not only out of my price range but even wider than our current bar stools. I looked at replicas of these stools just hoping they might be a bit smaller. Try as I might to make these work they just didn’t. So the scouting for the right bar stools continued.

I liked these by cb2…

The acrylic bar stools from cb2 seemed to be a good fit. They would practically disapppear. The dimensions were almost right but the depth of the seats were 2 inches more than what we could realistically accommodate.  Also, I wondered if these were just a little too “slick” for me. I was looking for not only the perfect dimensions but also a classic design that would work in a modern home but blend well with vintage, rustic pieces as well. This wouldn’t work.

This stool also was a contender.  Yet again, too big for our little space.

After reaching an all time frustration level I decided to see if I could find something on ebay. It only took about 10 mins to happen upon the stools that would send me into a desire like no other. I had found them! The objects of my desire were vintage. They were a perfect mix of rustic and modern. They were being auctioned off at an unbelievable price. They would look stunning against our white quartz kitchen bar area. And the best part was that they were the absolute perfect size. In fact, they were even narrower than I thought was even available. The search had ended…almost.

These lovely stools were not for sale but up for auction. This meant I had to bid on them. This also meant I had to win the auction. After two days of complete obsession over how I had to have these I planned my mode of attack and WON THE AUCTION!!

Here they are soon to grace our home. With a little cleaning up they will make the perfect addition to our new kitchen.

They are traveling from North Carolina to Florida. I can’t wait to meet them.

Now that I have scored these beauties I keep seeing images of similar stools and chairs online.

Here are some of my favorites:

{from left to right} 1. Photo by Laure Joliet 2. Image found on Pinterest 3. Arthur Umanoff chairs on Smitten Studio Blog

I can’t wait to share photos of the new stools once the kitchen is complete. Only two more weeks til demo begins!

So I’m curious…has anyone else scored big time on an auction site? If so, I’d love to hear your story in the comments below or please share your story on the indobay facebook page.

photo credits: click on images for link to site