A rattan outdoor rocking chair with a head cushion

The head cushion sits on top of everything else, a separate bolster tied at the top of the woven back. It is the first thing the eye registers, because it breaks the line: cream against brown, soft against woven. The rest is a mid-brown weave, wrapped over a dark frame. That pillow is what separates this outdoor rocking chair from a patio chair with a cushion thrown on it.

The back rises high enough for the pillow to land where the neck meets the shoulders rather than behind the skull. The seat pad is thick and the woven shell is deep, so the sitting position ends up further back than the frame suggests. Below, the base is one continuous steel curve, and the arc is short and even. Where the weave leaves gaps, daylight comes through in thin lines across the cushions.

Two things matter about where it stands. The base needs ground that is flat across its whole length: on a paved terrace with wide joints, or on gravel, the curve catches and the movement turns uneven. And the back needs air behind it, since the top of the frame travels backwards at the end of each stroke.

Weave, finish and weather on a rattan garden rocker

The finish was settled before anything else: a mid-brown weave over a dark frame, with cream pads on top. Handwoven PE rattan is described as weather-resistant, and unlike a plant fibre it takes up no water, so rain beads on the cords and runs to the floor instead of sitting in the weave. The steel beneath is powder-coated, which matters most at the joints, where damp starts.

The cushions are textile, and they follow a different rule from the frame. Common practice is to bring them in when the weather turns, so they are dry when they are next needed. In full daylight the brown weave goes warmer and the cream pads take the light without glare; under cloud, both drop back and the frame line becomes the strongest.

Set it beside three things and the differences show: the seats meant to live outside, which answer the same conditions, the models drawn as objects, where the frame is meant to be looked at, and the seats built to tip, which share only the movement.

Head support sets an outdoor rocker apart from patio seating

Standard garden seating stops at the shoulder blades. A patio armchair is built to be sat in upright, and the back is drawn to that height. Add a rocking base and the head has nowhere to go once the chair tips backwards. The pillow here fills that gap, so the angle the base creates is one the body can hold. The frame is rated to 136 kg.

It works where a chair can stay put and be sat in properly: a covered terrace, a balcony deep enough to take the arc, a veranda, a spot under an overhang where the cushions stay out of the rain. A fixed garden chair holds one position and leaves the head unsupported.

A terrace chair is usually chosen to be looked at. An outdoor rocking chair with a pillow at the top is chosen to be sat in. The pillow is the difference.

Out of season

Three questions that come up in October rather than in June.

Can rattan furniture stay outside in winter?

Synthetic rattan on a rust-resistant frame is usually left out; natural cane is not, since it absorbs water and splits as it freezes. Even with the synthetic kind, standing water is the thing to avoid, so a spot that drains and a cover that breathes do more than a sheltered wall.

When should you cover rattan patio furniture?

When it will go unused for weeks, not overnight. A cover left on through a mild damp spell traps more moisture than it keeps out, which is why breathable ones are the standard advice. Fit it over a dry frame, and lift it on a clear day to let the air through.

How do you store outdoor cushions over winter?

Dry first, then sealed. Cushions that go into a box damp come out marked in spring, so leave them somewhere airy until the covers are dry through, then bag them and keep the bag off a concrete floor. A shed shelf or a loft works; a garage corner that floods does not.