CushionGuide
Thick turquoise textured outdoor cushion on a weathered wooden beach daybed under white voile, with straw hat and iced drinkSave
  1. turquoise daybed cushion

    A mottled weave in water colors hides sand and damp marks.

  2. straw sun hat

    One natural straw accessory is all a beach bed needs.

  3. folded towel

    A pale towel at the head end marks where to lie.

  4. iced drink on stool

    A side stool keeps drinks off the cushion.

  5. weathered wood base

    The cushion is nearly as deep as the frame, making a proper mattress.

Plate Turquoise Textured Cushion on a Beach Cabana Daybed

A thick turquoise cushion on a low beach daybed, shaded by white voile with dune grass and sea beyond.

A Reading by CallumChaise Lounge & Sunbed Cushions

A turquoise daybed cushion under white voile, and the foam question it raises

Callum reads a thick turquoise cushion on a weathered beach daybed and asks what belongs inside a bed that meets salt, sand and wet swimsuits.

The quick answer

A sunbed or beach daybed cushion should be thick enough to work as a mattress, close to the height of its frame, with foam chosen for lying rather than sitting. Outdoors, how the foam handles water matters more than softness. Pair it with a mottled outdoor acrylic in the color of the water, which hides sand and damp marks.

Pinned by Callum

Start at the turquoise weave, then work outward to the hat, the towel, the drink on its stool and the weathered base.

The numbers match the pins on the plate.

  1. turquoise daybed cushionA mottled weave in water colors hides sand and damp marks.
  2. straw sun hatOne natural straw accessory is all a beach bed needs.
  3. folded towelA pale towel at the head end marks where to lie.
  4. iced drink on stoolA side stool keeps drinks off the cushion.
  5. weathered wood baseThe cushion is nearly as deep as the frame, making a proper mattress.

A mattress on the sand, not a pad on a platform

A beach daybed lives or dies by one number: how thick the cushion sits against its frame.

This one sits almost level with the weathered wooden rail. That's the right call. A thin pad on a low platform is a place to perch. A cushion this deep is a mattress, and a sunbed is for lying out, not sitting up straight.

The cloth is a mottled turquoise outdoor weave with self piping. Shallow-water colors, broken up by texture. On a beach that matters more than any color card. Sand, salt spray and damp marks disappear into a mottled weave. On a flat solid they sit there like footprints.

The styling is short and on point. A wide-brim straw sun hat, the one natural accessory. A folded cream towel at the head end, telling you which way to lie. An iced drink on a bleached wooden stool, so the glass sweats on wood and not on the cushion. White voile for shade, a rope hammock behind, dune grass and open sea beyond. Nothing on the bed that can't be picked up when the wind turns.

More beds like this are in the chaise and sunbed atlas, sizes in the sunbed measuring pattern, and the weave family on the outdoor acrylic shelf.

What goes inside a bed that meets salt and swimsuits

Lying down spreads your weight along the whole length. Sitting puts it all on a small patch. So a bed cushion can be a touch softer than a seat and still hold you up, as long as it's thick enough that hips never find the frame.

The bigger question outside is water. Standard foam holds rain like a sponge. Open-cell dry-fast foam lets it run straight through and out the bottom. For a bed that sees wet swimsuits and passing showers, that difference decides whether you can lie back down soon after a squall or have to wait for the sun to finish the job. The dry-fast foam pattern lays out the trade.

Then the cover. Water-repellent is a promise; waterproof is a contract. Know which one you are buying, friend, and put the foam firmness finder to work before you choose. Will your bed live under a roof, or out in the weather?

A real project

A skoolie, two long cushions and a frame not yet built

A buyer converting a school bus, a skoolie, wrote in for two cushions, each 75 x 26.5 in (191 x 67 cm), for a sofa that pulls out into a double bed. They wanted deep green linen. The quote came back the same in linen or velvet, and the linen color chart went along with it.

Then the buyer did the smartest thing in the whole exchange. They held off ordering until the bed frame was built, so the measurements would be real ones.

Same goes for a cabana platform or a built-in pool bed. Plans drift once the saw comes out. Build the frame, then measure the frame. More rolling builds live under van and skoolie cushions.

Weather questions

  1. A common question

    Do you have outdoor fabrics, and can the same tufted style be made for outside?

    The workshop's answer

    Yes. There is a separate range of outdoor fabrics with its own color chart, including darker greens, and the same shapes are made in them. For cushions that live outside, that range is water-repellent and UV-resistant.

  2. A common question

    Can an outdoor bench cushion have ties, and can I choose which way the stripes run?

    The workshop's answer

    Yes. One order was a 59 x 19.7 x 4 in (150 x 50 x 10 cm) cushion with piping and two ties on the back, plus two 29.5 x 20 x 3 in (75 x 51 x 7.5 cm) cushions, all in an outdoor stripe. The stripes ran along the 59 in length on the first and across the 20 in width on the other two, as the buyer asked.

On the cutting table: the cabana daybed

PieceSunbed and daybed cushion, rectangle
FabricMottled turquoise outdoor acrylic weave
ColorsTurquoise, white, driftwood gray
EdgeBox
PipingSelf
ThicknessClose to the height of the wooden frame rail
Foam to ask aboutOpen-cell dry-fast, for wet swimsuits and showers
ShadeWhite voile curtains
Best forLying out at the beach, pool or covered deck

Order this cushion

Have it made

Have this made — ask Callum’s workshop

Short list: size, sun hours, how fast it has to dry. The workshop goes through it with you. — Callum

Leave your details and the workshop will call you to confirm measurements, fabric, foam and piping. No prices, dates or payment on this page: it is a request, not an order.

Fabric · Foam · Pipingwhat the workshop will confirm with you

Fabric
Mottled turquoise outdoor acrylic weave
Foam
Open-cell dry-fast, for wet swimsuits and showers
Piping
Self
Only for this request: no marketing calls or texts. Outside the US, add the country code.
In inches: length × depth × thickness, plus any angles or cut corners.

* Required. A member of the workshop team will call you to talk it through; nothing is charged and nothing is made until you have agreed on every detail with them.

We use these details only to answer this request and make your cushion: your name and contact details, the cushion details and photos you send, the page you came from and the ad or link that brought you, if any. The workshop that makes the cushions receives them. We don't sell them or share them for advertising, and we delete requests after 24 months. Privacy notice for requests.

Nothing is made or charged until you approve the details.

Want to pick the shape and add photos? Use the full quote form

A sunbed cushion almost as thick as its wooden frame turns a low platform into a mattress; choose the fabric in the color of the water, not the furniture.

Callum

Questions buyers ask next

Should a sunbed cushion feel softer than a seat cushion?

It can be a little softer, because lying spreads your weight along the whole length. Thickness matters more: the cushion needs enough depth that hips and shoulders never reach the frame. Test options against how you actually use the bed.

Why choose a mottled outdoor weave over a solid color?

Texture hides the beach. A mottled weave breaks up sand, water spots and damp marks, so the cushion looks clean longer between washes, while a flat solid shows every drip. In water colors it also looks at home by the sea.

Is water-repellent fabric enough for a cushion left outside?

Not for all weather. Water-repellent cloth sheds splashes and light rain but lets water through under a long soaking. For cushions that stay out, ask for a moisture-barrier liner around the foam, available at extra cost, and bring them in for the wet season.

Fair winds — Callum