I am making a bar for a friend and he is paying for good materials to be used. It is a smaller bar and a pic he showed me of one he liked has padded rails. I set aside three inches for the bar rail on the base of the bar top and will place a piece of 3/4 inch oak at the edge of the granite top to keep any spills from getting to the decking.
Looking at your picture I am seeing that you have a steep angle, I may use that idea to put a small angle on the padded rail but am thinking that since mine will be smaller I might merely make a 45 degree angle on the edge of the 3/4 inch plywood to take down the corner of the area being leaned against.
You mentioned leather, is leather going to be over the top in price? This bar is only five foot top with two foot depth on the sides so I would like to use leather if at all possible. Would Naugahyde be better than vinyl?