This playful bar stool uses rock climbing hand grips as foot rests to meet your feet wherever they fall!

12 Steps is a cushioned chair design that features a system of footrests in the style of hand and foot grips on a climbing rock wall.

It’s no secret that stools are usually more functional than they are comfortable. With a hard seat rest, stools aren’t built for long sitting periods, and depending on your height, your feet are either swinging midair or only just touching the floor below.

Built as a whimsical alternative to the traditional stool, 12 Steps is a new cushioned stool from HaYoung Yoo that comes with built-in footrests designed like rock wall climbing steps so that people of varying heights will have a place where they can prop their feet.

HaYoung Yoo’s 12 Steps stool is built on a six-sided wooden pillar that’s punctuated with climbing holds more commonly found on rock walls. The climbing holds that fill up the stool’s wooden pillar are placed so that users can use them as footrests.

The stools also feature a rotating seat designed similarly to traditional bar stools so that the positioning of the footrests can meet users where their legs fall. The footrests can also function as hand grips for when you might want to move 12 Steps around the room. Ideal for a kid’s classroom or whimsical art studio, 12 Steps was built for comfort, functionality, and playfulness.

Designing innovative chair designs is a tough ask–they’ve been around for as long as any of us can remember. Innovation in new chairs might come through with their multifunctionality, adaptability, or simple comfort. 12 Steps reaches for all three, with an adaptable footrest system, rotating seat rest, and cushioned top.

Designer: HaYoung Yoo