Your dinette seat dimensions

[HIKEMT]

Custom dinette design still under way here. Camper is mid-build and I need to finalize dinette measurements. Looks like seat height will likely be 24" to match the the camper ledge or "leaf". I've mocked it up, but I'd like to hear from those of you with some"seat time" in your campers.

How much knee room, seat depth (front to back), and back cushion height do you have, is it comfortable, and what would you change if you could?

 

[Argonaut20]

You might look at http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/index.php?/topic/2159/ for the story on our dinette in the Bobcat. Bill Harr and DLN have done dinette builds as well. http://www.wanderthewest.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1162 is DLN's work.

Dimensions on ours are pretty close to what is in my drawing. Marty, Jeff, and Don made the foot well VERY usable by mounting the table leg on an extension from the fender ledge as shown in the photos. My wife and I have found the overall dinette package comfortable with enough foot room for both of us to eat at the table without playing 'footsies' unless we want to. If I recall correctly, Bill Harr found a way to mount the seat back for the rear seat that you might want to look at.

 

[HIKEMT]

You might look at http://www.wanderthe...hp?/topic/2159/ for the story on our dinette in the Bobcat. Bill Harr and DLN have done dinette builds as well. http://www.wanderthe...?showtopic=1162 is DLN's work.

Dimensions on ours are pretty close to what is in my drawing. Marty, Jeff, and Don made the foot well VERY usable by mounting the table leg on an extension from the fender ledge as shown in the photos. My wife and I have found the overall dinette package comfortable with enough foot room for both of us to eat at the table without playing 'footsies' unless we want to. If I recall correctly, Bill Harr found a way to mount the seat back for the rear seat that you might want to look at.


Hey Argonaut 20, thanks much for your reply and comments. I have read yours and DLN's threads and others and they've been really helpful on this project. My dinette is a front-end, side-to-side unit so a little different than most of yours, but with some of the same considerations, like seat dimensions.

23" seems to be pretty common for knee-room and sounds like it works for you which was exactly what I was wondering.

Another big question for us is the seat depth. We have two basic options, one with seats on top of the camper "ledges" (facing each other) and the other with seats between the ledges. If between them (lower seat, more knee-to-table room) we probably don't have room for 18" deep seats. Wondering if you think you could be comfortable with less or for you is that a minimum for comfortable seating?

 

[Argonaut20]

Just measured some chairs and they seem to hover around 15" to 17" for seat depth. That would likely work as a rough measure as long as the backs don't cut some of that off.

 

[RobNE]

Custom dinette design still under way here. Camper is mid-build and I need to finalize dinette measurements. Looks like seat height will likely be 24" to match the the camper ledge or "leaf". I've mocked it up, but I'd like to hear from those of you with some"seat time" in your campers.

How much knee room, seat depth (front to back), and back cushion height do you have, is it comfortable, and what would you change if you could?


I can measure mine tonight, but like you are suggesing, my seats are even with the camper ledge. Also, as Argonaout said, my table base is on the fender ledge(?) below the camper ledge.

Its been great, and to give you perspective, last fall we were camping with another family and ate in side to get out of the rain. 3 Adults and 2 four year olds... comfortably (relatively). I don't have seat backs... we rarely sit inside. once at camp, we sit in camp chairs. What could be more comfortable?

I left the seat backs off just to keep flexibility. Its easy to get underneath the seats, etc for storage. I presume you have a hawk, which has a bit more room than the eagle. The seat along the back is wide, as practical, so that seating for 3 is the norm.

here's my thread.
http://www.wanderthe...hp?/topic/2741/

Rob

 

[HIKEMT]

I can measure mine tonight, but like you are suggesing, my seats are even with the camper ledge. Also, as Argonaout said, my table base is on the fender ledge(?) below the camper ledge.

Its been great, and to give you perspective, last fall we were camping with another family and ate in side to get out of the rain. 3 Adults and 2 four year olds... comfortably (relatively). I don't have seat backs... we rarely sit inside. once at camp, we sit in camp chairs. What could be more comfortable?

I left the seat backs off just to keep flexibility. Its easy to get underneath the seats, etc for storage. I presume you have a hawk, which has a bit more room than the eagle. The seat along the back is wide, as practical, so that seating for 3 is the norm.

here's my thread.
http://www.wanderthe...hp?/topic/2741/

Rob


Hey Rob, thanks for your input and the info on your excellent dinette build. Our atc ocelot dinette is maybe a little unusual in that we are designing it along with the original camper build, so we can't see it “hands-on” as the design progresses. We're using front-end, side-to-side seating, and I haven't found a lot of these to compare to so the functionality is still a little uncertain.

We do take yearly trips where early sunset, wind, and low temps drive us inside early which is a big reason for building this camper, but we don't plan to spend hours at the dinette on every trip. By contrast the gear storage will be used every time we load the camper. Always a compromise but we're hoping this will work out well for our use.

Right now it looks like 24” tall x 36” wide x 13” deep dinette seats with 24” knee room. The idea is to use the 2' x 3' area between the seats for tote-based gear storage which doubles as a foot platform while sitting up on the bar stool-tall seating.

My main concern is whether 13” seat cushions provide enough support to be comfortable. I think most everyone here has used seats over 14" deep so any thoughts based on other users' experiences would be great.

 

[chnlisle]

Hey Rob, thanks for your input and the info on your excellent dinette build. Our atc ocelot dinette is maybe a little unusual in that we are designing it along with the original camper build, so we can't see it “hands-on” as the design progresses. We're using front-end, side-to-side seating, and I haven't found a lot of these to compare to so the functionality is still a little uncertain.

We do take yearly trips where early sunset, wind, and low temps drive us inside early which is a big reason for building this camper, but we don't plan to spend hours at the dinette on every trip. By contrast the gear storage will be used every time we load the camper. Always a compromise but we're hoping this will work out well for our use.

Right now it looks like 24” tall x 36” wide x 13” deep dinette seats with 24” knee room. The idea is to use the 2' x 3' area between the seats for tote-based gear storage which doubles as a foot platform while sitting up on the bar stool-tall seating.

My main concern is whether 13” seat cushions provide enough support to be comfortable. I think most everyone here has used seats over 14" deep so any thoughts based on other users' experiences would be great.


Hi Hike,
I can't wait to see how your Ocelot dinette looks.

 

[Argonaut20]

I think Marty will warn you if you get something in the design that is not workable.

 

[DLN]

The 24" between is workable but I'd be a little worried about the 24" height and 13" depth. A typical chair is 16"-17" deep and 18" high. Hopefully there is some room for revision in the layout. The height could be adjusted with a raised floor with storage under. Just some thoughts, good luck.

 

[HIKEMT]

Hi Hike,
I can't wait to see how your Ocelot dinette looks.


x 100 here Jay

 

[HIKEMT]

The 24" between is workable but I'd be a little worried about the 24" height and 13" depth. A typical chair is 16"-17" deep and 18" high. Hopefully there is some room for revision in the layout. The height could be adjusted with a raised floor with storage under. Just some thoughts, good luck. but maybe if an extra cushion is added on top.


We thought the same thing about the seat height so after measuring every chair in the house and stacking phone books on them, etc, we started by lowering it from the initial leaf plus 4" cushion to having the seat cushion level with the leaf. Our truck has 22" high bed rails which is why the leaf is 24". Not sure we can go below that and still retain the bed layout but maybe if an extra cushion was added for the bed position to raise it up to the leaf height.

I liked the idea of a 10 or 12" tall storage platform between the seats and had thought of putting the water tank and/or batteries there too and might still make those alterations after we've had a chance to try the camper out for a while first. We're currently thinking of keeping it simple and using 2 rubbermaid storage totes in the space instead which should fit on either side of the table pedestal and make a platform for our feet while seated. Two more storage boxes can go on top of those when the dinette's not in use and still allow the bed to be made out.

I'm with you on the 13" seat depth. Trying to figure out if we can add an extra inch or two to the seats by hanging them over the seat cabinet fronts. Another thought is that the seats would be 17" deep if the back cushions sat on top of the leaf and not up against it. They wouldn't be self supporting - but a fwc seat bracket might fix that.

 

[RobNE]

We thought the same thing about the seat height so after measuring every chair in the house and stacking phone books on them, etc, we started by lowering it from the initial leaf plus 4" cushion to having the seat cushion level with the leaf. Our truck has 22" high bed rails which is why the leaf is 24". Not sure we can go below that and still retain the bed layout but maybe if an extra cushion was added for the bed position to raise it up to the leaf height.

I liked the idea of a 10 or 12" tall storage platform between the seats and had thought of putting the water tank and/or batteries there too and might still make those alterations after we've had a chance to try the camper out for a while first. We're currently thinking of keeping it simple and using 2 rubbermaid storage totes in the space instead which should fit on either side of the table pedestal and make a platform for our feet while seated. Two more storage boxes can go on top of those when the dinette's not in use and still allow the bed to be made out.

I'm with you on the 13" seat depth. Trying to figure out if we can add an extra inch or two to the seats by hanging them over the seat cabinet fronts. Another thought is that the seats would be 17" deep if the back cushions sat on top of the leaf and not up against it. They wouldn't be self supporting - but a fwc seat bracket might fix that.


I finally got around to measuring my dimensions, if it helps you.

My dinette is 17" seat height, 21" seat depth and knee space of 21" (although there is a lip, so feet space is 23"). On the back wall, we put the cushion that is normally on the table top (in bed mode), which acts as a backrest. I think the knee space works because of the extra seat depth. As I mentioned, we've had quite a few people around a 'small' table and I don't recall knocking knees one. It was doable and not uncomfortable at all.

My bed rail/leaf is only 17" so I see your dilemma.

Good luck, I really like the idea of side to side seating (seems natural, especially given the bed rails and something I would do if I were building a shell). One thing I would note is that I try to put stuff I want to be able to access more frequently in the rear storage (closest to the door) as getting into the front storage (battery is there as well) is more difficult. Something always has to be moved, adjusted. perhaps a design flaw, but the front seat is hinged and simple... just farther back and not as convenient.

Rob

 

[artbode]

http://www.woodmagazine.com/woodworking-tips/techniques/must-have-measurements-for-comfortable-seating/

Look at this for proper dimensions and angles for a chair. Angles are very important for comfort. Note the back tilts back and the seat tilts up.

 

[Mark W. Ingalls]

http://www.woodmagaz...rtable-seating/

Look at this for proper dimensions and angles for a chair. Angles are very important for comfort. Note the back tilts back and the seat tilts up.


Yeah, bigtime. It took two revisions to get the right seat angles for my Hawk.