Suggestions for Saloon Seating

One thing I've never liked about my boat is the uncomfortable bench seating in the Saloon. It's not very soft, and the back leans forward a little with the slope of the outer bulkhead. Looking at other boats for sale and on Google, I'm starting to notice that it's not all that uncommon.

I don't have room for a proper couch or loveseat, because the engine room hatch needs to open fully. It's possible to find narrow furniture, especially outdoor furniture, but it's ugly and limits the storage underneath.

Ideally, I'd like to replace the cushions with something a little more comfortable. Something you sink down in like an easy chair, maybe a little higher under your legs than your butt.

Looking for ideas from anyone who has solved this dilemma. I do have a high-end sewing machine that can do 8 layers of Sunbrella, and I'm not afraid to take on a little upholstery work, although I've never done it before.

When we re-did our settee cushions, we had the person who did them angle the back cushions (thicker at the base) and put extra padding in the seat cushions. More comfy than stock. The yellowish ones in the first pic our ours.

Next time around, though, I'm going to attempt to convince my wife to go for cushions shaped somewhat like the seats in the next two pics that are on a sister boat that are quite comfy. More costly probably.

Of course, nothing beats a proper sofa and recliners. We just don't have the space and we need the under settee storage areas.

We're facing the same issue, although our flat settee seatback also serves as part of the mattress when we transform the settee into a double berth for extra guests.

In the meantime we get a comfortable seatback by putting a spacer behind it.

The spacer? A pool noodle for $1.87.

The trick was getting the right colour to match the cushions....

I plan on taking my stuff out and putting in proper recliners.. small rv style ones...

That pool noodle idea is brilliant Conrad

Ditto for small recliners. We got stress free brand ones. Light weight can be assembled inside boat if needed. Saw some with the foot rest built in that would be much better than the seperate foot rest we got. Good thing is they are small and comfy. Bad part is they are small. Trade offs as all things . Like em any way, did i mention small and comfy?

Ok, I will bite, I went to the stressless site and they did not show any with a built in foot stool. I have two of these chairs and they are great. New boat has a 3piece recliner sofa that is dark brown but restricts 1/2 of hatch opening potential. A negative for a fat man in a small engine room. The chairs are light almond and washes out withe the same color walls. Btw, the stressless coms in 3 sizes...and the large is large. Nothing beats an old school barber chair though.

We do not have the built in settee at all, although I have seen sister-ships with them. Our salon is open and we have two small La-Z-Boy recliners (like this one). We were specifically looking for boats with an open salon when we were shopping for our home. One is the "Wall-a-way" model, the other is the rocker-recliner. We briefly has a small stressless and it was just not comfortable, I went back to my La-Z-Boy....

Marty.....................

Mule i have the cheaper knock off Stress Free brand . Not sure what brand my dock mate has with traditional fold away foot rest. They look good. I have never tested them out. I will check this week end.

saloon seating

We had our cushions redone this spring; built up the lower portion of the seat back for support. Different density cushions. Not a sofa but a definite improvement.
I have a stressless knock-off that is quite comfortable. It's a little big for the boat but still comfortable.

Thanks for the pics and tips. Still collecting ideas.

We already use a pool noodle, and it's a slight improvement, but still uncomfortable.

It would be easy to remove the "box" the whole thing sits on, but there's really no room for a proper couch, and certainly not for a couple of recliners. And we'd lose out on a lot of stowage.

It's looking more and more like a trip to an upholstery shop, or maybe learn to do it ourselves. Either way, I need to figure out what shape to make them and what type of foam would be best.

I checked best out for "RV recliners" and they have decent ones for like $300 shipped. Just an idea. I'm SURE they are not the best or nicest. But how many if us can truly afford those??

Nice interior color choice, bnoft. Also, David: Why does your sister have a better upholstery job than you do? Love that color too.

healhustler said:

Also, David: Why does your sister have a better upholstery job than you do? Love that color too.

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Excuses, excuses:

I didn't make enough noise with the Admiral at the time.

I'm in charge of the systems. She's in charge of the decor. And my taste does not cut the mustard in her eyes.

One must keep the Admiral happy.

Plus, we had not seen the other boat's cushions when we did our re-upholstery.

saloon seating

Thanks Larry, wife and grandson picked it out.

We finally added a swiveling "barrel chair" to our main saloon. Got it off Craigslist (came from an RV) and is quite comfortable. I've seen examples where two swivel chairs fit in the space where a single bench-style settee might go.

We had a small (RV?) swiveling recliner in the saloon (plus 3 barstools, a kind of upholstered bench, and a custom-ordered RV sleeper sofa). The little recliner was super comfy but it was...mauve. We tried several slipcover fabrics but nothing was great, so it was disposed of. Mostly I sit on the floor with my back to the sofa so I can give our Sammy belly rubs:

You have a Sammy! Here is ours, contemplating dinner:

And the "...after the French Bulldog bit my leg and now I can't walk coz it's all swollen..." poop run.

Sorry for the thread hijack!

I don't like sideways seating at all. I have a typical L shaped settee and don't like that either.

I'd like to see out the window and sitting sideways looking into the cabin is like riding on a bus.

Give me a dinette or similar where one faces fwd or aft and can see sideways out the window. Nice and high up to see the view.

Similarly I don't much care for the typical stern seats in the aft cockpit. Who wants to look at the ass end of their cabin? I took mine out and we use a nice pair of folding chairs .... and we look aft at our wake, seagulls and all the rest of the view.

From the foregoing one would think I'm anti-social as most seating is arranged to look at other people in the boat. However those that know me know I'm anything but anti-social.

Just wish I had the time to convert our settee into a dinette.

Our settee has a curve where the two sides join. I hate it. You can't prop yourself up in the corner to read or nap. Designed by the devil. It will be gone this winter after boating season when I start the renovations. Keep the ideas coming, I will use them this Fall.

manyboats said:

Just wish I had the time to convert our settee into a dinette.

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Hey….that would be a nice little project to put right here on the forum. Why not do it? Is yours built-in…molded glass, etc.?

There are boats have underway seating and in port seating...each appropriate for the need....and the need greatly varies on how one boats.

Smaller vessels where everything is dual purpose often benefit from nothing built in that doesn't fold up/away and other seating is moveable yet securable.

So I took my settee out and put in a small couch that can convert to a bunk.

When we get the other projects done I will build in the custom couch. I built one in a 2550 Bayliner I had and it was awesome. Search the web on how they build a couch. There is not much to it. You buy the spring material and cut it to length with a bolt cutter and basically design what you want. I had an upholstery shop build the fusions as I was horrible at that part! You can rebuild a shaped couch where your current settee is.

Jeff

I have the fore and aft facing dinette, and hate the fact that it can't be turned into a decent second bunk for a couple. I am considering turning my fore and aft into an L settee, and pulling the deck out of the floor that raises your feet to match the table height. You can see out the window, but who rides back there? I drive I want to sleep and seat four adults in comfort.

Gotta admit on long runs I'm not at the helm all the time and have been known to take a snooze on the settee. And friends have slept there at night. So I guess I don't hate the settee all the time.

Here's how I did our saloon. Made new furniture with storage everywhere. The piece spanning the two benches tips up to allow access behind the bulkhead, as well as allow the engine room hatch to open fully. The bench back tips forward to provide storage for charts and nav gear. The rocker can be stowed against the wheel to allow the starboard engine hatch to open. Behind the rocker is a fold away nav table.

I love the swing out spot for the adult beverages.

One of the other forums that I frequent, peeps have been using the pontoon boat furniture in their pilot houses. Very durable, storage under, many modular configurations and no wood in the construction. Priced reasonably, even with shipping. A common problem is that it is too low, so some have built 6-8' platforms for it to sit on.

Funny thing, we have a Sammy on board too:



Thanks all! Keep those good ideas and pictures coming!