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Recently, while zhuzhing up my home for a few photo shoots, I found myself moving stools from room to room. One became a plant stand, another a bedside table. I stood on one to adjust a light, then topped another with a stack of books. And as I shuffled them around my apartment, I kept thinking: Why do stools look perfect everywhere?
Truly, what a magical, multipurpose piece of furniture it is. You can find one at a thrift store for $20 or spend considerably more on something sculptural and strange. They come plush, wooden, metal, plastic; squat and chunky or tall and spindly; in just about every color, shape, and size imaginable. A stool can be a seat, sure, but it can also be a surface, a pedestal, a nightstand, a plant stand, or simply a place to put that thing you don’t know where else to plop.
I could shout my love of stools from a mountaintop, but that would be weird. So instead, I’m making the case here: Every room in your house could probably use one, in any shape or form.
Rustic and Angular
In interior designer Jenn Bliss’s Australian farmhouse, a petite wooden number warms up an otherwise sleek white shower clad in classic tongue-and-groove paneling. Its rough-hewn shape gives the pristine space a little edge.
Curvy and Cute
Cool stools abound in Agnethe Glatved and Matthew Septimus’s Ditmas Park apartment, which track, given their careers as a creative director and photographer. The curvy Yanagi Butterfly Stool, a design icon found in the collections of both MoMA and the Met, looks just as good topped with a casual stack of textiles.
Simple and Sturdy
In Nicola Harding’s 17th-century Cotswolds home, the interior designer embraces what she calls “seating stealth”: plenty of places for guests to perch without making the house feel like a furniture showroom. A sturdy little stool, for now serving as a plant stand, can migrate wherever the party does.
Classic and Compact
Every inch counts in Beverly Nguyen’s less-than-400-square-foot Tribeca studio, making a slim stool an obvious choice. Here, it moonlights as a just-big-enough side table for an iconic lamp.
Vintage and Metal
A loose red, white, and blue palette runs throughout jewelry designer Lizzie Fortunato’s Bellport, New York home without ever veering into patriotic territory. A vintage indigo metal stool slips easily into the mix of creamy neutrals, plaids, and other cozy weekend-house staples.
Stout and Square
Interior stylist Julia Stevens packs an impressive amount into her 235-square-foot Gramercy Park studio. A tiny stool earns its keep by bringing texture, a little extra height, and a landing spot for an ever-growing stack of books.
Sculptural and Chunky
Wood is the name of the game in Amy and Jason Osni’s beachside trailer—the couple first bonded over a shared love of paneling, after all. Amid those straight lines, a voluptuous wooden stool introduces a welcome curve.
Wabi Sabi and Wavy
For the renovation of this Spanish-style Los Angeles home, Alison Wilson and Jonathan Fernandez approached the bathroom like a spa. Tucked beside the tub, a three-legged stool adds just enough warmth and imperfection to the tiled space.