Professional organizers are always looking for good places to stash the stuff our clients need, so furniture that comes with storage always catches my attention. Prior posts have discussed beds and coffee tables with storage; now let's look at stools.

The bucket stools from Pedersen+Lennard are made from recycled steel buckets. Since these are galvanized, powder coated buckets, they're going to be quite durable. The stools provide a nice amount of storage—but they wouldn't work well for small items, which would tend to get lost at the bottom.

Users who do want to store smaller items would appreciate a design like Matt Blatt's Orbit storage stool. Since this is wood, it's not going to be as forgiving as the bucket stool if someone carelessly puts something wet or sticky inside—so it wouldn't be practical for users with small children.

The XTOOL from Combo Colab, first offered via Kickstarter, would be good for users who like their items to be at least somewhat visible. This is another durable product, designed to be used indoors or outdoors. Because the stools don't have a cushion top, they can be stacked when not in use. (But the lack of a cushion may also make them less comfortable.)

Some users may need just a small amount of storage—enough for a magazine or a tablet, for example. The Stool Andy from Loïc Bard is a design that would meet that need.

The POP stools from Miles & May, with their open storage, would work well for books or perhaps some decorative items. But they're not going to work if there are small children around, unless the items stored are intended for those children.

Bar stools can also be designed to include storage features. The Extru bar stools from Miiing provide a casual kind of storage—not what a user would want for an expensive wool coat, but fine for outerwear that needs less care. The Extru stools are made from polyethylene and are UV resistant; they're meant to be used either indoors or outside.

For indoor use, the Ranger Station bar stool from Scout Regalia is going to be more practical. It has hooks for hanging coats, and a nice flat space for papers, tablets, etc.

Some storage stools have been designed with features that expand the ways they can be used. The Smith from Danese Milano, designed by Jonathan Olivares, has wheels to allow it to be easily moved. (The Smith is the product on the right; the one on the left is the Smith Pro, which is primarily intended to be a work surface.)

But the Smith can also be stacked with other Smiths, or hung from a table.

The Myrtle stool/chest, designed by Taiji Fujimori Atelier, can also be stacked. Since it's designed for stacking, the enclosed storage uses a drawer rather than a lidded storage space.

The steel stool from Noon Studio is another open-storage stool with space for books, magazines and more.

But the stools can also be stacked to create a larger storage system.