These chairs are beautiful.  They are a bit tedious to put together but very sturdy and beautiful.  However, I have a 9 year old boy and one of the stools already has nicks in it (I have had them for 2 days) from him swiveling and hitting the counter top.  I am not sure what kind of chairs would hold up to young boys and cats who like to sit on the seats of the chairs.  But these are beautiful and I hope they will look good for at least a few years until my boys are older.