I have the Pottery Barn Tibetan stools in a black (with some "distressed edges"). Love them for our counter-height area because they slide under when they're not in use--and we have a huge dining room table, so no one (other than the kids) eats there much....more for brousing through a cookbook or going through the mail. They're comfortable for us and we use them on a daily basis for short periods of time. But bar height, I would DEFINITELY get some type of back. I have seen some (as the pp mentioned) that are pretty short in the back so as not to obstruct the view or be too obtrusive. Maybe that would be an option. :) Sarah

It's actually a great place to store seldom used or seasonal items in the kitchen instead of in the basement or elsewhere in the house. You don't want them too deep, though, b/c if they're too deep it will be too difficult to access and things will get pushed into the back and lost in a "black hole". 12" deep is nice, as is 15". 18" might be pushing it, but if you store items that you can grab from the front, then it would work - like those large items ILoveRed's picture. However...and this is a big however... Be sure you first have: Sufficient overhang for seating - minimum of... -- 15" of clear knee/leg space for counter-height -- 12" for bar-height -and- Sufficient aisle space behind the seats -- 44" if no traffic behind the seats and no cabs or counters or appliances behind the seats -- 54" if cabs or appliances or counters and no traffic or vice versa -- 60" traffic and cabs or counters or appliances

I would leave the pony wall due to there really is not that much room for seating as is. When people seated they will be out in the walkway already at bar heigth with stools. Plus, there's a lot of useful electrical sockets within the pony wall above cabinet heigth. If lose pony wall, putting electric in cabinets, will lose valuable storage depth within cabinets. What I would do now is replace the backsplash. The countertop is ok, imho. Countertop will look so much better with a brighter less pattern backsplash. Suggest moving in & seeing how well the kitchen layout feels while using for a few months at least. They may like the L shape as is. Make sure they love the cabinet color & style & they all are in great shape,too. Then & only then would I invest $$$ into new countertop. If they want to keep a Lshape kitchen all one level with more leg room then shift peninsula cabinets 12" or so closer to stove, but that's a lot of work. Plus, kitchen will get smaller, but seating would be better. Hopefully there is flooring under cabinets or enough left over. Maybe some can be taken out of closet or can find exact flooring match. Pros & cons to changing layouts is common. They may not like the layout after using. Then save up for a new layout then remove pony wall. They may want to consider getting rid of the L shape layout & get an island instead. Hope that helps. Nice of you to help your niece :)

Thank you. It would look similar to this style, but 42" high, and instead of base cabs on the opposing side, seating (same as the shown side in this photo). I understand that bar height vs. counter height is an opinion that many contest, but most people agree that split counter heights (the typical way this is done) are not as good as a single surface. My guess is that many people opt for counter height based on the fact that they can set the counter on their base cabinets- versus figure out how to deal with raising the height of their cabinet, regardless of their preference in seating height. I'm assuming this is why I can't find any examples of this. Or when posed with this scenario, just buy a table! I would like this to be a permanent fixture that flows with the rest of the cabinets and counters.