My mother-in-law had a deck full of deep-cushioned chairs and chaises. The cushions, however, spent most of their time crammed in two huge deck boxes or stacked inside. Getting them out was a hassle. Putting them away was a hassle. So more often than not, we didn’t bother. We perched on dirty slats or discovered, too late, that the cushions were soaked.

It all seemed like a lot of infrastructure and cushion management just to sit down—so much for all that comfort. One question kept nagging at me: what if the cushions never had to leave the chair?