outdoor poufs seats without a back

An outdoor pouf earns its place by doing three jobs. It seats a guest when the chairs run out, holds your feet up when you read, and carries a tray of drinks when the seats are free. The Meroni & Colzani outdoor line counts four poufs, and two of them, Otranto and Sorrento, come with a plan for how to group them.

Otranto is a large pouf with a soft shape. The factory made it to form conversation islands outdoors, and the phrase gives you the plan. Set two or three Otranto poufs in a loose ring on the lawn or at the corner of a terrace, and people drift into them and talk. No back sets a direction, so guests face each other and turn with the talk.

A large pouf also fills the dead middle of a big lounge group. In the spot a coffee table would leave empty, an Otranto can take a tray, a book or a person. See the Otranto family.

Sorrento comes in three colors. The factory suggests two uses: as a side table, or paired with the other outdoor poufs to play one material against another. Set a Sorrento next to a Gargano and the braid meets a smooth surface; put two Sorrento poufs in different colors together and you get contrast without a pattern.

As a side table, a pouf wants a firm top. Put a small tray on it for glasses and it holds steady; take the tray away and it becomes a seat again. See the Sorrento family.

Three rules help.

• Leave room to walk. Keep about 3 feet between a ring of poufs and the nearest path, so a guest can pass without stepping over anyone.
• Mix sizes. One large Otranto with two smaller poufs reads as a group; three of the same size can look like a waiting room.
• Anchor them. A pouf floating alone in the middle of a terrace looks lost. Tie it to a sofa, a tree, a planter or a rug.

Height counts too. A pouf that serves as a footrest should sit at about the height of the seat in front of it, or a little lower. A pouf that serves as a side table should sit near the armrest.

Gargano wears braids of polypropylene outside and a water repellent lining over its core, so it suits the edge of a pool where people sit down wet. Grantorino has an outdoor pouf that you can order in the color and material you choose, which helps when you want a pouf to match a sofa to the thread.

Poufs sit low, so they meet more water than a chair does. Lift them off standing water after a storm, and turn a soaked upholstered pouf on its side to dry. Bring fabric poufs under cover for a long wet spell. A braided pouf like Gargano needs less fuss: rinse it and let the sun do the rest.

In winter, poufs are the easy part of storage. They stack in a garage or a shed, they fit in a car, and they come out first in spring when the sofa cushions are still drying. Keep them on a shelf off the concrete floor, which stays damp through the cold months, and they start the new season in the shape they left.

Write to us with the number of guests you host and the space you have. We suggest a group of Meroni & Colzani poufs, send the colors open on each, the lead time the workshop gives and a price for each piece. The form is below.