While these look great at my kitchen island, "short" is not at all how I would describe them. Adults need to sit sideways for them to fit, but the kiddos fit just perfectly in these stools.  I know about proper measurement (before anyone says anything), but these were ordered & remained in the box before my island was designed and cut, so we did not realize the counter height and stool height were a bit off until the stools were assembled & put in place. These definitely take some elbow grease & patience to put together, but in the end, they look good and are (mostly) functional.