Hello folks, I'm in the long slow process of building a dedicated theater room. While I'm no where near ready for seats, it's peaked my interest as of late as I was able to sit in a few different Palliser seats over the weekend.
Here's where the dilemma starts. The room is exactly 146" wide and I have a column on either end of the front row housing side surrounds. These need to be 7" deep. so between the columns I have only 132" of width. The columns will be 18" wide. I've attached a sketch of the theater layout so you can visualize what I'm talking about. The rear riser is to be 12" high and there will be a 6" step on either side of the front row. After having scratched out the drawing I decided maybe it would be better to have the step be more of a landing (maybe 2 feet deep vs a normal step) as this would elevate the person walking past so as to be a little higher than the side of the first row seats. Generally speaking most people are broader above the waist.
So the practical person, more responsible person would likely order a narrow foot print row of three such as the Palliser Stereo or HT's Paget. These rows are 91" wide and would leave a fairly sufficient 21 1/2" on either end to walk past. The problem is I really like the Devonshire seats and they are 101" wide. The rear row can be as wide as the colums as nobody needs walk past the rear row. The plan for the theater is a row of 3 and a row of 4 in the rear with a center love seat and 2 individuals on the ends. IOIOOIOI The Devonshires fit the rear with no issues. (although they will be almost column to column)
So do I go with a wider front row and get the seats I want? This leaves only 15 1/2" on either side that someone must pass through in order to get to the rear row. It's only just for the width of the column however and by the point you are stepping past the high seat back of the front row you are past the column so you gain more room. Primarily it's just the wife and I in the room. We have no kids. Holidays are often busy but I'd say 75% of the time no one will use the back row. Maybe even more. The selfish side of me says I should come first and if the guests have to squeeze, so be it. I mean after all, I built it... I'm paying for it... It's MINE!! My... preciousssss...
I'm fairly particular about things being symmetrical so pushing the row to one side wont work. I did look into the possibility of a love seat left or right ( IOIOOI ) which would give me back 6 more inches for 18 1/2" on either side but then it isn't symmetrical with the offset look of the front row.
So any advice on this? Have any of you done wider seats and regretted the small corridor? It would save a bit of dough if I went with the narrow seats, roughly $1000 on the 7. Is 15" going to be an expensive mistake?
Here's where the dilemma starts. The room is exactly 146" wide and I have a column on either end of the front row housing side surrounds. These need to be 7" deep. so between the columns I have only 132" of width. The columns will be 18" wide. I've attached a sketch of the theater layout so you can visualize what I'm talking about. The rear riser is to be 12" high and there will be a 6" step on either side of the front row. After having scratched out the drawing I decided maybe it would be better to have the step be more of a landing (maybe 2 feet deep vs a normal step) as this would elevate the person walking past so as to be a little higher than the side of the first row seats. Generally speaking most people are broader above the waist.
So the practical person, more responsible person would likely order a narrow foot print row of three such as the Palliser Stereo or HT's Paget. These rows are 91" wide and would leave a fairly sufficient 21 1/2" on either end to walk past. The problem is I really like the Devonshire seats and they are 101" wide. The rear row can be as wide as the colums as nobody needs walk past the rear row. The plan for the theater is a row of 3 and a row of 4 in the rear with a center love seat and 2 individuals on the ends. IOIOOIOI The Devonshires fit the rear with no issues. (although they will be almost column to column)
So do I go with a wider front row and get the seats I want? This leaves only 15 1/2" on either side that someone must pass through in order to get to the rear row. It's only just for the width of the column however and by the point you are stepping past the high seat back of the front row you are past the column so you gain more room. Primarily it's just the wife and I in the room. We have no kids. Holidays are often busy but I'd say 75% of the time no one will use the back row. Maybe even more. The selfish side of me says I should come first and if the guests have to squeeze, so be it. I mean after all, I built it... I'm paying for it... It's MINE!! My... preciousssss...
I'm fairly particular about things being symmetrical so pushing the row to one side wont work. I did look into the possibility of a love seat left or right ( IOIOOI ) which would give me back 6 more inches for 18 1/2" on either side but then it isn't symmetrical with the offset look of the front row.
So any advice on this? Have any of you done wider seats and regretted the small corridor? It would save a bit of dough if I went with the narrow seats, roughly $1000 on the 7. Is 15" going to be an expensive mistake?