I wouldn't use gray, taupe or white stools. Look for black, a dark wood tone, or metal for the legs. If you want fabric instead of leather, make sure it's only on the seat and not the back so it holds up over time. I think a warm colored leather seat could work and provide some needed contrast.

Drew Avenue · More Info

I love your kitchen, it looks beautiful!

Have you seen these from Grandinroad? There might be a combo that works well.

https://www.grandinroad.com/ellis-swivel-bar-26-counter-stool/indoor-furniture/bar-counter-stools/1386686?listIndex=1&uniqueId=138668

Your kitchen has such a wonderful balanced feel of calm colors and elements — I wouldn’t put a dark wood or black metal in there. Too much contrast, I don’t think it would flow well at all or look good under the pendants. And be the wrong focal point ... as you said they’re the first thing you see coming in.

I do love the Ballard ones, wish the shipping date was quicker!

ETA: These are lovely, too, and also come in various color combos:

Frontgate

Love these:

Horchow

Your kitchen rug seems to have some red in it. What about dark red leather bar stools with wood frames? Grandinroad has some nice dark red leather options.

What about these? I can't tell how white your counter is... https://www.serenaandlily.com/riviera-bar-counter-stools/m10328.html?color=Fog%2FWhite&size=Counter%20Stool%2026%22H#start=3

Thank you all! I’m still deliberating but love all thee suggestions.
@jinx, I’d ruled out Grandin Rd based on some reviews of other stools that complain about the height. But the one you posted has great feedback, and leather plus swivel seems like a great combo for a small space. What do you think of these options for the color? The medium toned one (‘’marbled pebble”) is pretty close to the actual cabinet color but I think the darker one may look better....

Oh, I like them all! But agree with you regarding the darker one, especially if you’re wanting a bit of contrast. :)

The darker colored leather looks good, and leather is very easy to maintain.

I like the loom style w/the soft grays

or, a darker wood version. the two on the left can be found on Wayfair, or even houzz

woven leather is nice too

Have you looked at Serena and Lily? They have some beautiful woven ones. https://www.serenaandlily.com/carson-bar-stool/m11577.html?color=Ebony&size=Barstool#start=52

I also love the last ones that @Beth H. : posted. I had those on order from WS, but the ship date kept getting pushed back. I ended up with some from Ballard that arrived the same week I ordered them. Maybe look at vintage too; you know they're in stock. Here are some pretty ones on Chairish: https://www.chairish.com/product/3113529/mcguire-weave-rawhide-rattan-campaign-stools-set-of-3 

Thank you @stiley @Beth_H. @calidesign @User -- I love all of these! I worry a bit about comfort with the wicker and woven stools, especially with the 6ft-plus crowd. It's so great to be able to make all these purchases online but I think that's why I'm so torn - I don't want to have a bunch of giant boxes to mail back if the stools don't work. Decisions, decisions! Thank you all for the great options!

These are the ones I ended up with. I like the higher back and that they're easy to recover. They're also much lighter than our old ones; sturdy but easy to move around. My husband is over 6 ft and is comfortable in them. I agree, online shopping is nice but you don't want to have to ship back a big box!

Just an update - I think I blew it. I went down a pale gray rabbit hole after seeing the lovely ideas from @beth_h. Reviews described these as a brown gray... but they look too green here, right? I’m thinking of returning them and going with the Grandin Road ones instead...

Can’t help but say i still like the ones i posted because they go with your art and your pendants, and seem to pick up every gray and brown as well

hey, don't blame me for those! I never posted pictures of those chairs!

I posted these. way diff. these have wood legs. The seats are a woven material. the style is more fitting to your room.

The ones you picked are more of a contemporary look.

and those loom chairs are heavy duty. they're perfectly fine for larger frames.

Sorry, @Beth_H. - I wasn't blaming you at all! I simply meant that I hadn't even looked at any gray stools until I saw your mockup - that provoked me to go staring at a billion different options, including the loom ones that you posted. I was still sort of hung up on leather for durability etc, which is how I ended up where I did.

@User, those are really interesting but it's hard enough buying something I can't test drive first - much less ones like these where the image is just a computer mockup.

Back to the drawing board!

Well, there's a million shades of gray. I was going more off of your cabinet color, which leans on the taupe gray side (at least on my monitor).

The loom chairs I picked have the natural texture, the warm wood and the more natural 'gray' tones. That's why I chose those

The warm leather options, I chose those because the leather was a nice contrast to your cabinet color, and pulled out the warm tones from the wood flooring.

Compare the gray chairs you got w/the metal legs and cooler gray fabric. That's why it doesn't look right to you.

I just really like the looks of these

you could always choose a lighter rope color. doesn't have to be gray

I really like these too because of the wood leg color, and the textured seat portion. along w/the natural colors. It's not gray, and doesn't have to be gray. but it works. Sullivan-Williams/Sonoma
these are no less studier than the ones you just bought

Or, what do you think about one like this? the warm wood matches your flooring, and the natural colors of the seat work w/your other elements (McGee and Company Ava Seagrass stool

most of these would also work.

Chippendale style in a gray tone?

I think this is another of those” mood” choices... which style best suits the mood of the space? It feels more organic and comfortable than traditional or contemporary...?..most of use that kind of seating a lot so I always look for a style that has a separate cushion... so it will be more comfy.. a cushion can be plumped with more foam or filling if needed..and the cover even changed over time or even seasonally

Cushions also offer an opportunity to add a little punch to your decor... either color or fringe or pattern

Or contrasting trims