Interior furniture questions...

I want to know what people think about using regular household type furniture on a boat versus built ins. I find typical built in settees quite uncomfortable and would like to have a nice recliner aboard. I would tie the household furniture down. So how well does household type furniture hold up on a boat. In other words is my leather lazyboy marine capable?

TDunn said:

I want to know what people think about using regular household type furniture on a boat versus built ins. I find typical built in settees quite uncomfortable and would like to have a nice recliner aboard. I would tie the household furniture down. So how well does household type furniture hold up on a boat. In other words is my leather lazyboy marine capable?

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It's done all the time in larger boats. And smaller ones for that matter. That said you need to be careful with ones that swivel. If somebody try's to grap onto it and use it to steady themselves in a seaway they can be in for a nasty surprise.

By you're absolutely right about a lot of built in furniture build by boat manufacturers. Very uncomfortable. It's like boat builders have never sat in a chair or sofa in their lives and just guess how it should be designed. And then never sit in it after they build it.

The other thing they seem to get wrong a lot is interior light placement and outlet placement. And/or there is not enough of either.

And you see these very simple to correct mistakes over and over, boat after boat from the same manufacturer. And from brand to brand on up to multi million dollar boats.

Standard furniture works perfectly. In our saloon, port side are 2 Ikea Poang chairs and an ottoman; starboard side is a leather sofa with 2 power recliners.

we would have a recliner in a heartbeat if we had room! We have a residential leather chair aboard and it has held up fine to the marine environment. It is a cheap POS chair so it is getting worn out but that is from being used, not being on the boat. I say go for it.

Capt Bill so true re lighting!

we would have a recliner in a heartbeat if we had room!

No problem , there are lots of RV items that are known as zero clearance.

That means it can be placed against a wall and function by folding out , not back.

Google " zero clearance rv recliner chairs"

http://www.glastop.com/rv-furniture-products.asp?id=57

There are dozens of sources , recliners , couches what ever .

Built for vehicles , they can easily be bolted down.

FF said:

we would have a recliner in a heartbeat if we had room!

No problem , there are lots of RV items that are known as zero clearance.

That means it can be placed against a wall and function by folding out , not back.

Google " zero clearance rv recliner chairs"

http://www.glastop.com/rv-furniture-products.asp?id=57

There are dozens of sources , recliners , couches what ever .

Built for vehicles , they can easily be bolted down.

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Earlier this year we refurnished our Defever44 with pieces from an RV distributor (Bradd and Hall) from Elkhart, Indiana. Our challenge was being able to fit the furniture through a 23-inch wide door. We purchased a two-person reclining loveseat and an L-shaped sectional that jack knifes into a sleeper. Not wanting to purchase online which one may, we travelled to Elkhart from Annapolis to visit the showroom to sit in the various choices, choose fabric, etc. The salesperson worked closely with us to choose pieces that would fit the dimensions of our salon. We measured, measured, measured and measured. RV furniture must fit through very narrow doorways such as that on our boat. It is assembled such that it can be taken apart without a lot of effort.

The custom-ordered furniture was delivered by truck to our home. I disassembled each piece in our garage. The backs slide off track mounts and the arms unbolt. My wife and I alone brought the pieces on-board with little difficulty. (We are 65 and 67 years old.) All told the process took about 5 hours from garage to boat. The sectional and loveseat look great on the boat and are highly functional and very comfortable, just like at-home furniture.

As for the reclining feature on the loveseat, it requires about 4 inches of bulkhead clearance. I would be happy to supply pictures to anyone who has an interest. Just send me an e-mail address. My address is catalinajack6@gmail.com.

It's ironic, but the ability to R&R the mfg. furniture with COTS without compromising any boat systems is one of our search prerequisites. We have all seen the corner group settees with A/C vents on the base that will need to be dealt with when replacing with COTS.

Where it gets difficult is when the mfg. has built custom radiused furniture and/or trim to match the hull contours. Millwork isn't my strength.

Meridian installed a small corner piece on their 411 that is at such an angle you couldn't see the TV. Great for conversation, but not much else. I'd probably have it removed and replace it with a desk. I'm curious about the finish behind it.

OTOH, their standard corner group settee has two recliners built-in under the window at a perfect TV viewing angle. The table is movable. I can already see siestas happening.

Gravity chairs are also great items for a cockpit or sundeck... quite comfy and store nicely.

We learned the hard way on our last boat about securing furniture. I won't make that mistake again

I will undertake refurbishing my salon this spring. A dock mate of mine purchased their salon furniture from Home page. Very comfortable and well built. Good luck!

Pau Hana said:

Standard furniture works perfectly. In our saloon, port side are 2 Ikea Poang chairs...

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We had 2 Lazy Boy Leather Recliners for 7 years and they worked well but were big and they didn't wear well for what we paid for them in IMHO.

Then Lena found the Ikea Poang Chairs. With the leather seats/backs $149/. They don't over power the room, are comfortable to sit it and easy to clean around.

No reason not to use home furniture and many reasons to do so. As Bill said it is common in larger boats.


Steelcase makes a lot of stuff used in boats and RVs. Smaller recliners designed for apartments etc are widely available.
Just make sure the furniture stays put in a seaway.

TDunn said:

I want to know what people think about using regular household type furniture on a boat versus built ins. I find typical built in settees quite uncomfortable and would like to have a nice recliner aboard. I would tie the household furniture down. So how well does household type furniture hold up on a boat. In other words is my leather lazyboy marine capable?

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TD...

We recfently came to the same conclusion re lack of comfort and replace Mainship sofa w 2 recliners.
We had replaced a recliner in a motorhome with a Benchmaster recliner purchased online through Discount Leather Chairs.
We went with the Benchmaster Ventura model as it was a little more compact - their different styles have slightly different dimensions if you look through their line.
Our MH recliner has served us well and we're expecting similar results on the boat but we just made the swap at the end of our season.

I don't see the link / listing of Benchmaster on the DL Chair site but I seem to recall it was somewhat hidden - If you call you will likely reach Bob - I found him very knowledgeable and helpful. They periodically run specials so you might inquire and see when if any are coming up... I bet he would get back to you if you asked.
Edit - found the link and it shows the riser / base Benchmaster at DL Chairs

Service was great - had the chairs shipped to our house - they are partially assembled and boxed well - 1/2 hr ass'y for each but that was actually an advantage fitting them in our SUV and getting them aboard.
If you go the above route I would also recommend the optional riser for the chairs - It about an 1" high wooden ring that gets placed under the chair base. My wife & I are fairly tall and found it more comfortable a little higher - also being Sr Citizens easier in / out.
I do plan to be more careful to close blinds when we leave the boat for extended times as I understand sun /UV not the best for leather.

Re: attachment - I added a web strap w/ a plastic quick-connect buckle in the MH - rarely use it and have never had the chair move. Haven't done anything on our boat - all the saloon furniture in our Mainship was lose - sofa, chair, stools, table so didn't fel it was necessary but something that can be done fairly easily if / when req'd

I do see Camping World has some similar units for RV's including one w/ a built-in foot rest - you might try them if you have a decent sized one nearby
Good luck and if any questions feel free to contact me - PM probably best.

A couple of before & after pics...

very good !

Larry M said:

We had 2 Lazy Boy Leather Recliners for 7 years and they worked well but were big and they didn't wear well for what we paid for them in IMHO.

Then Lena found the Ikea Poang Chairs. With the leather seats/backs $149/. They don't over power the room, are comfortable to sit it and easy to clean around.

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Looks very comfortable!

FF said:

we would have a recliner in a heartbeat if we had room!

No problem , there are lots of RV items that are known as zero clearance.

That means it can be placed against a wall and function by folding out , not back.

Google " zero clearance rv recliner chairs"

Recliners, Glastop RV Seating

There are dozens of sources , recliners , couches what ever .

Built for vehicles , they can easily be bolted down.

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Glastop comes to the boat shows. They sell marine and RV. We ordered these at the Annapolis boat show. They have some nice discounts during the show. I was against it but the wife pushed. Now I wouldn't be without them. Full recline, zero clearance.

Bacchus said:

I don't see the link / listing of Benchmaster on the DL Chair site but I seem to recall it was somewhat hidden - If you call you will likely reach Bob - I found him very knowledgeable and helpful. They periodically run specials so you might inquire and see when if any are coming up... I bet he would get back to you if you asked.
Edit - found the link and it shows the riser / base Benchmaster at DL Chairs

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Useful thread, all, thanks. And this link shows some additional promise, thanks for that, too.

We have a Flexsteel sofabed, probably both an RV and Marine product. Too short for me to stretch out on when in standard mode, heavy and awkward pain in the neck when I need to open our starboard engine hatch (which is mostly underneath the sofabed), and it takes up boatloads of saloon space on the few times we've agreed to let someone sleep in the thing...

So I've long been thinking about replacing with two wall-hugger (zero clearance) recliners of some sort. Wifey likes the existing couch, though, and I've also pondered whether we'd ever need that sleeping capability again, even if only very occasionally. Anyway, just hadn't really gotten around solidifying my thoughts... nor to actual shopping... so all his here is helping.

These models seem to maybe offer an additional capability. Note the wall-hugger feature, but also note the lay-flat versions.

Palliser Columbus Traditional Leather Recliner

http://www.discountleatherchair.com/pdf/43116+48116_Columbus_EN_SPEC.pdf

I'd have to pull the chairs out from the wall to use a lay-flat feature, but it might be these could also recline comfortably -- enough -- for normal usage without actually being moved away from the bulkhead...

I might give your Bob a call to ask questions like that...

-Chris

Starboard, we've got this his/hers combo of Stressless and Lazyboy recliners that are equally comfortable and have matched leather. If you want to include your saloon as another useful space, good chairs are important.

This works for us. 0 clearance.

omc said:

Looks very comfortable!

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Thanks they are! The Lazy Boys we replaced them with we're good but expensive and only lasted about 9 years. The mechanisms started to break and the leather was starting to crack. There are lots of options out there. You can probably find any size and configuration that will fit you area.

Interior furniture questions

timjet said:

This works for us. 0 clearance.

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Tim,
They look great, where did you get the setup?

We use household furniture as well. The loveseat was actually part of a set, we had the sleeper sofa delivered to the house and the loveseat delivered to the boat.

Bacchus said:

A couple of before & after pics...

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Don, you already know this so my comment is pointless
Sinking the vinyl bench in favour of the recliners, upgraded from trailer to yacht. The wood(?) blinds and tween table add heapsa class. Very nice.

Although the built in settee is super comfortable & holds 5 people , my wife bought 4 portable chairs that work in the salon or cockpit. They have hinged folding tables attached. ($80 at Amazon)

We just bought a Stressless recliner for the boss yesterday. It fits very well and is really comfortable, not that I'm ever going to get to use it. It's kind of spendy but I think it's going to hold up well with stainless and plastic parts and a 10 year warranty.

FF said:

we would have a recliner in a heartbeat if we had room!

No problem , there are lots of RV items that are known as zero clearance.

That means it can be placed against a wall and function by folding out , not back.

Google " zero clearance rv recliner chairs"

http://www.glastop.com/rv-furniture-products.asp?id=57

There are dozens of sources , recliners , couches what ever .

Built for vehicles , they can easily be bolted down.

Click to expand...

Thanks for this link FF. We have a jackknife Flexsteel sofa and I didn't realize it is probably an RV product. It's one of the most comfortable sofas I've sat it. Way more comfortable than those built in settees for boats. It's starting to wear a bit and we'd like to have it reupholstered of possible, and if it doesn't break the bank. Pam uses the sofa (lucky girl) and I have to,settle,for the Ikea poang chair with ottoman. It's "ok".


Jim
Sent from my iPad using Trawler Forum

An important difference between using home furniture and custom built settees, benches and cabinets is the amount of storage space that can be built in.

The value of storage space goes up the longer one spends on the boat at any one time. Those of us who spend months at a time on the boat treasure every cubic foot of space.

kody said:

Tim,
They look great, where did you get the setup?

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Sorry it took so long to reply. It came with the boat. Hope the pic helps. Built in 1998.

Thanks everyone. You have given me a bunch of ideas. Now all I need to do is buy a bigger boat that can accommodate real furniture. I will have to stick with wicker for my current boat .

We needed a couch, but could not find anything that would fit through our narrow sliding door. Eventually found a system that you assemble on site. Comfortable, easy to assemble, not expensive and has a good amount of storage. Happy with our purchase. Here's a link.

Home Reserve - Discover The Only Renewable Furniture In America!

Leather L Sofa with Recliners

timjet said:

This works for us. 0 clearance.

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I realize this thread is older, but could you tell me were you got your sofa?

rdh4190 said:

I realize this thread is older, but could you tell me were you got your sofa?

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The couch came with the boat, probably was custom made as it was a very tight fit. The manufacturer was Flexsteel Industries. They make furniture for the boating and RV manufacturers.

"Way more comfortable than those built in settees for boats."

Frequently the difference between sitting on a sheet of plywood with a foam cushion , and real comfort.

Why do boat assemblers still sell slab horror sitting and sleeping when cars have had real seats for a century?