They are the Venetian - 24 inch stools. They are really comfortable and clean up nicely. I spent a long time agonizing over counter stools and I'm happy with them! They have a bar in the front and on the sides - it's a good position for a foot rest. They look great with the soapstone. Even though the soapstone is on the perimeter and the marble is at the island, I like it a lot. I didn't want to try to match the island. Good luck!

Palimpsest is right. If you know well in advance what your tile will be take the time to calculate it out carefully and you can work in the horizontal outlet to fit inconspicuously with the tile. She also has a great idea by setting up a flexible positioning of the outlet connections, but you might not be able to get away with it. Your city code may require the outlet boxes to be fully installed before the wallboard goes in. Find out ahead of time. Ours does. The electrical inspector would not have allowed us to wing it after the fact. In our community, code says outlets need to be positioned every 4 feet around the perimeter of the countertops in new construction areas. Also, a dedicated circuit for a microwave needs to be included and must have a GFI outlet. DH was the electrician, not a professional. We had to think through all our appliances and the positions for the outlets at a time when I was hardly ready to think about it. AARGH! Now, we have to live with our previous decisions. Generally, I think they were good ones, but....we'll see. Remember to tell electrician if you want white or cream-color outlet parts. Same with light switches. My hubby doesn't notice this kind of thing and unless I remind him, he would put both together in one installation. If you are planning to have light switches in the same place as outlets, be sure to discuss with installer the potential for dimmer switches too. Don't forget outlets for ... undercounter t.v. or radio or coffee maker or whatever chargers for phones laptop computer electric knife vacuum cleaner

Thank you Holly-kay and Patricia ! I appreciate the compliments. Yes Patricia is correct...very few know about this marble and it is local and more beautiful than many other marbles. I was able to go out to a field in a local area, Beauregard AL ,and pick out a piece from a pile by flashlight ! I always love the stories of others agonizing over slabs at a slab yard :) All I worried about is if DH and I would be able to lift it into and out of our pickup truck ! We did...it was $50...and the edge is the same as was on the building in Columbus GA where it was salvaged. The bldg . was taken apart and Reeves Salvage in Phenix City took all the marble...the marble was on the outside of the bldg and the edges "lip" over each other. Another person bought it from Reeves and took it home to his field behind his house and there it stayed for a couple years. I now wish I had bought enough to do my whole kitchen...sigh...I was so dumb ! If you get a chance to ever purchase salvage by all means do it! c This post was edited by trailrunner on Sat, May 10, 14 at 20:25

I should also point out that there's only ONE receptacle required on the entire island, It's preferably placed above the countertop (if there's a place to put it), but as I said, it can be up to 12" below the countertop provided the overhang is less than 6" where it is located. On the island in my last house, I had one high up on each end (either of which could qualify as the required outlet). I also put one in the center of the island on the side where the bar stools are. There's too much of an overhang on mine for that to be legal, but that doesn't mean it doesn't come in handy for people plugging in laptops or phones when they're seated on that side. And yes, we went round and round on whether to make our counters (they're large peninsulas rather than islands) one level or two. For the one in the kitchen, we tended to agree with Patricia. Flat expanses are better for both cooking and entertaining. We just got counter-height stools there. I did go with a stepped counter for my downstairs bar which I like very much (and yes the receptacles are in the riser between the "bartender" side and the stool sitters side.