Esse Counter Stool

Room×Lab Review · Review updated August 28, 2026

Smoked Oak and other Esse owners praise the curved seat’s comfort and solid build; cracked or split seats are the recurring risk

Room×Lab read all 137 distinct written owner reviews of Article’s Esse Counter Stool, posted from January 2019 through August 2026. They cover the Smoked Oak stool shown here and other or earlier Esse versions, so the counts on this page describe the Esse range as a whole. Of the reviews below, one reports nearly two years of use; the others do not say how long the owners had their stools. The reviews below, all posted on the Smoked Oak listing, show one example each of cracked seats, uneven legs, height and discoloration beside two detailed accounts of praise, so they do not show how common each experience is.

Room×Lab rating: 7.6 out of 10 (limited confidence). Smoked Oak and other Esse owners frequently praise the curved seat’s comfort and the stool’s solid build. The caveats: a recurring minority report seats that cracked or split over time, some stools arrived with uneven legs, and some owners found it too tall for their counter.

• Curved-seat comfort: 38 favorable mentions; 2 concerns — The curved seat is the most praised feature across Esse reviews, though at least one owner found the unpadded wooden seat hard.
• Sturdy for most, uneven for some: 28 favorable mentions; 4 concerns — Most owners describe a solid stool. The concerns come from isolated orders that arrived uneven, including a Smoked Oak owner whose three stools all wobbled because opposing legs differed in length.
• Durability is the central caveat: 8 favorable mentions; 6 concerns — One owner’s two heavily used Smoked Oak stools still looked new, but several owners report cracks that spread or seats that split over time, and a Smoked Oak owner’s seats cracked again across three replacements.

Before buying

Choose the Smoked Oak Esse for its comfortable curved seat, but cracked or split seats are a recurring minority complaint. Measure your counter (some found it too tall) and check each stool on arrival for level legs, foot protection and early cracks.

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