I’m using Mozilla Thunderbird with classic layout. By default that means folderpane on the left, calendar on the right, message list on top center and message pane at the bottom center.
A while ago I realized that the time I spend selecting messages to read is minor compared to the time I spend reading them. As reading area is lower on screen you’re not exactly doing a favor to your posture if you’re reading on a laptop without external monitor connected.
So I made a small change to my userChrome CSS rules. That’s a file under your profile folder, more specifically userChrome.css file under chrome folder. If you’ve never used it before you need to create it.
You add the following: #messagesBox {-moz-box-direction: reverse;} which basically reverses the order of panes in the middle column. This way you’ll have message list at the bottom and message pane at the top. It’ll be strange at first but you won’t even notice it later, promise :)
This is not a solution to perfectionists, though. If you have filterbar or any other notification bar visible it’ll look strange. Maybe someone else wants to turn this to a proper extension which only reverts parts that make sense.