Wood bar stools are worth buying when they are solid wood with braced legs, because stools fail in one predictable way: the leg joints loosen from constant mounting and dismounting until the stool wobbles — a genuine fall hazard that has caused recalls of mass-market counter stools. Solid American black walnut legs joined through reinforced stretchers stay rigid instead.
Buy by height first: measure floor to counter underside and leave 10 to 12 inches of legroom, which usually means a 24-to-26-inch seat for a kitchen counter and 28 to 30 for a bar. Every Walnutry stool is made to order in solid walnut and backed by 90-day returns.