Jan, You know, I actually thought about backless saddle stools; there's a store in my area that carries them in various heights, and not only are they reasonably priced, but they also have some that are black distressed (with red showing through) just like my Windsors. BUT, DH has asked for backs (for comfort)... and I would like to accommodate him, if possible!!! BUT, those are a possibility. And another "plus" is that the owner of the store is a friend of mine, so I could bring them home for an evening and try them w/o any committment, and that would be nice! Oakleyok, Thanks for your post, too! I was ALSO thinking about something like that -- something totally *quirky* and just plain *fun*, like a 50's type diner stool, or a real modern kind of stool... or maybe just something with a fun and whimsical (faux, of course!) animal print seat. As you all can tell by now, I have been giving this a whole lotta thought!!! ;o)

I love my first chairs too but it’s such a high room and those worked so perfectly in my formal dining, so that’s why I’m making the trade. I’m open to other ideas besides blue or wicker, i just liked that they both had 36-38 backs (the fun pattern ones are 31). Also, did you say something less modern for stools? Isn’t bottom right the most modern? As you can see I’m not so smart at this haha. I also forgot i like these

This Midcentury/Rustic house has some good insipration for you: Photo by teri maher interiors - [Browse living room ideas[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/living-room-ideas-phbr0-bp~t_718)

Depending on your family and life style I would avoid fabric covered anything. The dining room seems to be significantly easier to keep chairs really clean in vs the stools at an island in my experience. For us when we did our kitchen which is open to the dining area I wanted the stools to be very low profile and not be the star. I wanted the island and the colour of it, which is a dark grey called iron mountain to be the star. As a result our stools are actually chrome bottoms and then acrylic see through on the top. With three kids I need to wipe them often but everything always wipes off...I shudder to imagine if they were fabric!