These stools are very handsome and appear to be substantial. The seat is good-looking and quite comfortable. However, I had an awful time during assembly with the poor fitting cross bars (the two long and two short wooden bars that go in between the stool legs). The long cross bars, especially, do not seem to be long enough--they were extremely difficult to screw in, and did not stay in long before falling out of their slots on the legs. The first time someone sat on the stool and rested his feet on the cross bar, it fell out. I am going to be removing the long cross bars and see how the stool holds up. Otherwise, I will possibly replace with pieces that I cut myself or fill the slots slightly with something and use some longer screws.
I would return, except shipping (from Hawaii back to mainland) is very expensive and the stools are used infrequently.