A Low Stool Earns Its Keep: Side Table, Footrest, Plant Stand

Most Scandinavian apartments are not large. The reason they still feel calm has less to do with square footage than with how little furniture is doing most of the work. One of the quietest workhorses in that formula is a plain low stool.

A stool that's roughly 40–45 cm tall — the height of a side table, the height of a footrest, the height of a seat you'd pull up for a guest — earns its space back three times over.

As a side table

Beside a sofa or a reading chair, a stool holds a mug, a book, a small tray with the evening's objects on it. Unlike a styled side table, it never looks over-dressed because the top is a seat — it's meant to be used, not arranged. When nothing is on it, the stool reads as a stool. When something is on it, it reads as a surface. That flexibility is exactly what a Nordic room asks for.

As a footrest

Pulled up to the front of a chair, it saves you from buying an ottoman you'd use for an hour a day. Choose a stool with a flat or very gently rounded top — no cushions, no tufting, nothing that would be uncomfortable to rest an ankle on. Wood, cork, woven rattan, or hard upholstery all work.

Height matters: if the stool is more than 5 cm taller than the chair seat, your legs sit up instead of out, and the footrest stops working. 40–45 cm fits most lounge chairs; 35 cm fits lower seating.

As an extra seat

When one more person comes over, the stool is the chair you don't have to store. Light enough to lift with one hand, small enough to tuck under a console or beside a shelf. The fact that it isn't primarily a chair is what makes it welcome — nobody feels like they've been given the leftover seat, because the stool doesn't broadcast "spare furniture."

As a plant stand

A heavy ceramic planter on the floor often looks lost. Lifted 40 cm, it reads as deliberate. A stool beside a window with one tall plant on it adds a vertical note without a shelf, a ceiling hook, or any installation.

What to look for

Solid build (sit on it before you buy; it should not creak). Flat or barely-domed top (ergonomics for feet and cups both). Natural material (wood, rattan, cork, or metal — avoid plastic). Weight you can lift with one hand (if you need two, it's too committed to one spot).

And resist the matched set. Two identical stools look like they came together; one stool, chosen on its own, reads as part of the room. If you need two, pick two that share a palette but not a silhouette.

The underlying rule

Furniture that only does one job needs that one job often enough to justify its footprint. A dedicated side table, a dedicated footrest, and a dedicated spare chair in a 60 m² apartment is three objects where one would do. The Nordic habit of under-furnishing a room isn't about owning less — it's about owning things that pull their weight in more than one direction.

One good low stool is a very small decision that keeps paying off for years.

Warm regards,
Byhimself