Settee back heights

[bcooke]

I need to establish the heights of my settee backs. The ones I had last year got turned into shelves before I remembered to record the dimensions (I built them by eye). I would just pick what looks good to me except I don't have a cabin sole and I stand directly on the ballast which gives me a skewed perspective. I feel like a midget in there now. No offense to small people intended.

Anyone have a good rule of thumb for settee backs? And would this be from the bottom of the settee or from the top of the cushion?

I tried two different angles with my settees last year and found I liked the one that was sloped back about two inches the best. I am hoping I can keep the settee back short enough for a twelve inch high shelf behind it under the sidedecks (I need a place to put my Chapman manual and a few other equally sized books)

Thanks,

-Britton

[Tim]

I have about 12" above the tops of my settee backs, more or less. Whether I have 11" or 13", it would be very easy to just set your distance at 12" and use that as your beginning point; it won't be too low. My configuration is different from what you envision, but I think you can see that there is plenty of space available; my settee backs are at a comfortable height. They could be a bit lower without sacrificing their utility, if another inch or two was desired above.

Note also that my settees are original and therefore at the original height.

I angled my settee backs at 10? from vertical, which probably comes close to your 2" measurement. The slight angle makes for much more comfortable sitting; vertical backrests are extremely uncomfortable.

Skene's Elements of Yacht Design has a section on basic dimensions for tables, chairs, shoulder room, etc. if you want more information.