Swinging bed for your porch.

This is my second swinging bed in this location. My first swinging bed/floating bed I made years ago with used, leftover deck lumber. You can see it <HERE>.  It was everyones favorite place to nap and the most popular place to be at family gatherings. On Thanksgiving the swinging bed had a full book.

I had to take it down when our roof was replaced, so it got trashed. Then it was replaced by a used ping pong table. 

Everyone, especially me, missed the swinging bed so much, so I recently built an exterior ping pong table for the back yard so that I could make another swinging bed for the porch/patio. See the ping pong build <HERE>. Now we have the best of both worlds.

This is a super easy build! And quite affordable. The materials, not including the rope which I already had, cost a little more than $100, even with the cost of lumber these days. 

I used…

• 6 2×3-8′ pine
• 3 1×6-8′ pine
• 2 1×4-8′ pine
• 4 3/4″ screw eye hooks
• 4 3/4″ eye bolts plus washers and nuts
• rope
• paint

I cut everything right in the final resting place of the swing so I didn’t have to move it anywhere.

The first step is to create the perimeter frame. I simply butt-joined the 2×3’s with two stainless steel 2.5″ screws. Be sure to pre-drill pilot holes so you don’t split your lumber.

Then I used off cuts, to cut some pieces with two 45 degree ends to install in each of the four corners to square up the frame. I have a very important tip about this step at the end of the video that’s worth watching. 

After the corners, I cut some stringers, toggles, whatever you wanna call them, to support the mattress. I attached them at approximately 12″ apart with two 2.5″ screws in each. 

Now onto the pretty. I used the 1×6 lumber to wrap the 2×3 frame. I used shorter screws to screw the 1×6 to the 2×3 down all the sides.  

I used the 1×4’s to create arm rests on each end. I made them just tall enough to reach right above the height of the mattress. I didn’t want them to be so tall they were a visual distraction from the bed, but I wanted to have somewhere to set a drink or cup of coffee. Plus they ‘ll hold the bolster pillows(I’m about to make)from rolling off the bed.

I used EYE BOLTS to hold rope to the bed.  Originally I planned to use eye screws in the bed, but I thought better of it and decided to use bolts . I felt the screws may have stripped or split the wood of the bed. 

I predrilled the holes to fit the bolts snuggly. Then I used a washer on the inside so the nut wouldn’t embed in the wood with the pressure of the weight of the swing. Because then it becomes impossible to take the nut off in the future.

I did use eye screws in the ceiling.

To tie the rope and hang the bed I decided to set the bed on Homer buckets, after watching the video by Young House Love…brilliant idea! The buckets are the perfect height. Once the knots are all tied and the swing is released from the buckets the knots tighten up and the bed hangs at just the right height. 

I used a natural hemp rope that I ordered off amazon <HERE> .  I had just enough leftover from a previous job. 

 

The bed sits at the perfect height. You can sit on it and your feet touch the ground so you can gently rock in pleasant summer breeze.