Decor Doppelgängers – Pottery Barn Tibetan Barstools

Pottery Barn’s popular Tibetan Barstool ranges from $99 to $119 a piece.

Our new, single height eat-at counter (try saying that 5 times fast) demands counter stools instead of bar stools. I’m in the market for something small and simple. For these reasons, the Pottery Barn Tibetan Barstool is a popular choice for many.

Pottery Barn Tibetan Barstool in Black ($99).

They are easy to spot on Houzz. They’re not badly priced, either – $99 for the medium height (27″) and $119 for the tall (30″). But, remodeling an entire floor is expensive and since I know this is one furniture purchase I’m likely to want to change fairly frequently, it made sense to do a little comparison shopping.

After finding water hyacinth placemats at Wal-Mart, I have kept my eyes open each time we pop in for our dogs’ joint supplements (sometime’s it’s really hard to beat volume pricing) and stumbled across a very similar stool. Wal-Mart’s version is called the Saddle Seat Stool and it comes in 24″ and 29″ heights and ranges from $24.97 for the shorter stool to $28.97 for the taller stool. The best part? These items are available online.

Wal-Mart’s 29″ Saddle Seat Stool in Black.

Are they identical? No. The dimensions are pretty close, though! Pottery Barn’s version has dimensions of 18″ x 15.75″ x height compared to Wal-Mart’s 17.9″ x 15.8″ x height. The placement of the rungs seems a little higher on the Wal-Mart version and to my eye, the legs seem skinnier. Of course, there is also a height difference. We’re not comparing apples to apples – I’d have to measure to know which height works better at a counter, but you can choose 24″, 27″, 29″, or 30″.

A little side-by-side comparison

Pottery Barn describes their Tibetan Barstool as being made of “kiln-dried rubberwood” with “rustic” visible joinery. Wal-Mart boasts of “solid wood”. It could just be better marketing, but it’s likely you’ll see a little better quality from the Pottery Barn item.

However, hundreds of happy reviews describe the Wal-Mart item as a bargain. Maybe this decor doppelgänger is a winner!