There are stool and there are stools

A stool is a stool, whatever name you give it. Nowadays almost every furniture item is a given a more glamorous name. While stately pieces of furniture such as cupboards and sofas may be rendered with innovative names, who would expect the humble stool to be offered this pride of place. What I am talking about is the vanity stools. A vanity stool is a normal stool in all respects except that it generally has a soft padded seat. Also, the name I guess comes from the practice of using the stool when sitting in front of the dressing table with the vanity case in front of you. Generally, vanity stools are more elaborately done up as compared to normal stools and may also have arm rests. My mother had three vanity stools in her bedroom and she was very meticulous in their maintenance. Apparently, the stools came down to her ownership after being in the possession of our family for generations.