Pickle Athletics & IDF Studio: Bar Stool Furniture Case Study
A Place to Play. A Reason to Stay.
The most revealing part of Pickle Athletics may be its bar. Before guests reach the courts, a generous counter, hanging plants, and warm upholstered stools introduce a different kind of sports club: one where conversation matters alongside competition.
At this Oakland venue, IDF Studio's interior design gives the social spaces their own identity. Superior Seating supplied the Ethan Fully Upholstered Steel Frame Restaurant Bar Stool in Kelton Canyon, adding warm color and upholstered seating to a setting built around the club's philosophy of Play and Stay.
Project at a Glance
- Venue: Pickle Athletics
- Address: 4000 Telegraph Ave, Oakland, CA 94609
- Venue Type: Indoor Pickleball Social Club with Café & Wine Bar
- Opened: November 2025
- Interior Design: IDF Studio
- Architecture: Field Paoli Architects
- Furniture: Ethan Bar Stool, SKU 240-U
- Specification: Kelton Canyon Upholstery, Grade 6; Black Steel Frame
- Color Palette: Brown, Black, Green & Gray
From Auto Facility to Social Club
Founders Kady Pooler and Maryanna Quigless built the club around connection beyond the game. Its founding story describes a place where people can compete, recover, eat, and spend time together. Four indoor courts sit alongside fitness facilities, a sauna, a lounge, and food and drink service.
The building's previous life makes the transformation especially interesting. In a founder interview, Pooler explained that the property had been a car dealership and repair facility. Removing internal divisions helped create a more open environment. A horseshoe-shaped counter now welcomes visitors with coffee and later serves as a wine bar.
Interior Design by IDF Studio
IDF Studio, a Bay Area residential and commercial design firm established in 2010, brought the interior into focus. Field Paoli's project account credits the studio for interior design and identifies Eric F. Anderson as the construction partner.
The photographs show industrial structure retained as part of the atmosphere. Exposed ducts, dark ceilings, and concrete floors give the room an urban character. Plant-filled shelving, warm lighting, artwork, and upholstered seating counterbalance those harder surfaces.
Around the bar, black vertical paneling creates a strong base. The stools introduce a repeating band of warm brown below the greenery, making the counter inviting without disconnecting it from the building's industrial character.
The Seating Challenge: Hospitality, Not a Waiting Area
The bar needed to feel like a destination within the club, not a place to wait for a court. Seating had to relate to the dark metalwork while adding a softer point of contact. An upholstered seat and back, paired with a narrow steel frame, offered that balance without introducing a bulky silhouette.
The Solution: Ethan Bar Stools in Kelton Canyon
The Ethan stool's appeal here comes from restraint. Its slim black legs repeat the lines of the overhead shelving and dark cabinetry. The warm brown upholstery provides contrast, while the separate padded back and seat keep the profile visually open.
Kelton Canyon is the project's specific upholstery selection, not a color inferred from a stock product image. Repeated around the counter, it gives the bar a recognizable edge. The stools contribute to IDF Studio's larger composition without attempting to become its main feature.
Commercial Construction Behind the Design
The Ethan's commercial specification includes a welded 18-gauge steel frame, black powder-coated finish, and nylon floor glides. It is intended for indoor use, with customizable seat and back upholstery.
Those details matter where seating serves coffee visits, post-match conversations, and evening gatherings. For other projects, businesses can discuss upholstery options and customer-owned materials with Superior Seating, choosing a finish around the interior rather than relying only on the catalog photograph.
Guest Experience: The Life Around the Game
The club's café menu includes an egg-and-arugula breakfast sandwich, avocado toast, sandwiches, and sharing boards, alongside coffee and wine. It gives visitors reasons to use the counter before and after playing, rather than treating food as an afterthought.
IDF Studio's Instagram caption captures the relationship between the room and its guests: Occupied, it comes alive. Empty, the design speaks.
The supplied photographs show both conditions: the rhythm of an empty row of stools and the more informal scene once people sit down.
Nearby lounge seating, artwork, and shuffleboard continue that social atmosphere. The bar stools are one part of the broader experience, but an important one: they give the invitation to stay a physical place.
Bring Hospitality Seating into Your Next Project
Superior Seating helps designers and businesses specify commercial bar stools, chairs, booths, and tables for restaurants, social clubs, hotels, and recreation venues. Share your interior palette and intended use to explore upholstery and furniture options suited to the space.
Contact our sales team to discuss a project quote, or explore more Superior Seating case studies .
