I have lived in two places with breakfast bars in American style kitchens. I found that I tended to spend a great deal of time sitting there so a bar stool with a comfortable back is important. I made mine from pine, copied from some I saw in a bar. I was also given an old captains swivel seat from a yacht so I built a stand for it, reupholstered it and unfortunately left it for the new tenant who liked it. That was one of my favourite seats, to sit in comfort at a breakfast bar rather than balancing without a back to lean on.

I can't really choose either as I much prefer the brushed metal than the chrome and would choose that - but if the other one is more comfy.... I had some black padded ones like the ones in your images (not quite as nice!) typical gas lift faux leather on a chrome base. Very comfy as lots of padding but the faux leather ones were super cheap - maybe £55 for a pair, haha. The chrome was awful and showed every bit of muck and dust and it rusted constantly. They ideally need sealing over with chrome to protect them. The faux pvc to me (even though I actually work with leather!) worked well as they were always getting grubby (especially when the nephews visited and put their dirty hands all over them, haha) and I had to scrub them down a lot so they endured quite a bit over the years I had them. The leather on the stools I imagine is similar to an upholstery leather so it will possibly look the same and not have that real leather feel to it (like some of the leather industrial style stools you find) and although I would always choose leather over pvc, if the seats are housing children then you might want to perhaps look at the cheaper end to start with to see how they get on with them. My nephews would spin on them, go up and down on them constantly, knock them over (rolls eyes) and needless to say, the gas lift started to fail on some of them.

Out of all the ones you’ve listed I like the one from Perch and Parrow but I’m confused when you say footprint within 48x48cm and this one is listed as 42x42cm. Incidentally I found them cheaper here: https://www.costco.co.uk/Furniture-Home/Dining-Room-Furniture/Chairs-Bar-Stools/Gallery-Palmer-Brown-Faux-Leather-Bar-Stool-2-Pack/p/263151 Also found this one: https://www.wayfair.co.uk/furniture/pdp/selsey-living-hoker-65cm-bar-stool-tcdv2652.html?piid= And a bit of a wild card but the cantilever might make it extra comfy: https://www.argos.co.uk/product/8835576 Also have a browse in the Houzz shop. They have lots of barstools so you may find something there.

Doesn't this make them impossibly heavy to move? My mum has oak stools and they're so heavy you can barely move one...........as she's getting on a bit, we're now looking for a lighter weight stool that she can move, that's still sturdy.............it's not easy. The lighter weight ones all feel too flimsy and are not the right style for her kitchen either.