These bar stools are beautiful and look great in our kitchen.  They are definitely darker than the picture, which I knew about from the reviews, so there was no surprise.  I think the darker color is lovely.  Docking one star because they do not clean well.  I spilled something on them and tried to clean them with water and dawn dish soap. Not only can you see where the original spot was, you can also see the area that got wet with the dawnwater.  Unfortunate since we plan to eat a lot at our counter - wish they cleaned better.