porch swing - BELLE OMNILEY

Belle Omniley Home Decor Baton Rouge, Louisiana

PORCH BED SWING SPRING UPDATE

Hi, Y’all! One thing that I had on my wishlist and prayed for in our forever home was to have six exterior columns and a porch. Yes, I was so specific on the number of columns…why? There was a gorgeous home in our previous neighborhood and I adored the six front-facing white exterior columns. So of course I always had the columns and a porch on my wishlist. What’s a Southern Belle without an awesome porch? I have so many memories of being on the porch with my NaNa and I had hopes of sharing long talks with her on my porch. Unfortunately, she passed away before we moved into our current home. I still feel she is with me when I sit on my porch bed swing. I often have thoughts of us fishing in the lake or better yet her fishing and me sitting on the porch, because I’m afraid of snakes.

That’s one of the reasons I make sure my porch bed swing is decorated seasonally, so she can look down and smile. If you guys remember this is the DIY Porch Bed Swing my husband and son made for me two years back and it is still holding strong. If you want more on the DIY it can be found here.

It is my goal to spend a lot of time here this spring and to enjoy a nice glass of wine or one of my favorite bourbons occasionally. I don’t usually spend a lot of time here when summer hits, because the porch swing is lake-facing and typically the snakes are on the move. A story for another day. So on to the spring refresh.

So what updates did I do? I added a fabulous new planter and potted a lemon tree. Now for a little secret…can you believe this tree is fake? I also flipped my rug to the other side and it is giving the porch a new life. This year it doesn’t look like we will have to do anything to the porch swing cushions; they held up well after we repainted the fabric last year.

I hope this brings you all some inspiration to get spring ready! As always thank you for your support it means the world to me. Omniley

Follow:

This post contains affiliate links.

Belle Omniley

Find me on: Web | Instagram

Belle Omniley Home Decor Baton Rouge, Louisiana

DIY Porch Bed Swing

Hey Y’all. I got so many questions and compliments on my porch swing, so I decided to share a step by step tutorial (video below). This side porch is dedicated to my late NaNa; she loved sitting out on her porch. Although she passed away before we moved into this home I feel her spirit is with me every day.

Now before we get into all the nuts and bolts (haha) let me just say I initially wanted one of the cute egg chairs that are inundating everyone’s home and patios right now, but due to COVID-19, I couldn’t find one online that would ship without crazy fees. So, of course, we decided to build something ourselves. This took a bit of convincing and arm twisting. My better half is always about working smarter not harder and I agree to a certain extent. I think it’s the unique side of me that always wins though. After looking for inspiration I decided on a porch bed swing.

This was a super easy project and can be completed in a weekend. I ended up taking about four weekends because I made custom cushions and added a bed skirt around the frame.

What you’ll need:

pallet~45” x 55”
(3) 2 x 4 x 3’ lumber
(3) 1 x 6 x 8 lumber
drill
screws
(8) lag eye screw bolt 7/16” x 5 1/4”
measuring tape
~30ft rope
(2) 6 x 24 x 72 cushion/foam
48″ batting
10 yards duck canvas fabric
fabric protectant
(3) 30″ zipper
(2) 6×9 drop cloths

You can locate pallets at nurseries and shipping areas. Try to locate healthy and good looking pallets.

The hardest part of this project was the installation of the backrest to the swing seat. We used 2 X 4 x3’ boards (already pre-cut) to make a base for the back and attached them with screws at a 45-degree angle to the pallet. (see video below)

We used a saw and cut the 1 x 6 x 8 lumber pieces into lengths of 48″. We used five pieces and spaced them evenly and screwed them onto the angled 2 x 4’s to make the backrest.

Once the frame was finished we used 4 lag eye screws and secured them on each corner of the swing base where we would be tying the rope. At this point the swing is complete now it is time to hang it up. If you wanted to paint the swing this would be a perfect time. I opted not to paint ours.

We used 4 cylinder blocks upright to hold the swing in place (about the height of a 5-gallon bucket). The 4 remaining lag screws were placed in the ceiling of the porch. IT’S VERY IMPORTANT TO MAKE SURE YOU ARE PLACING THE SCREWS IN A 2 X4 OR 4 X 4 AND NOT HOLLOW FRAME. The load weight of the rope and eye screws is obsolete if you don’t and someone might get injured if the swing gives away. My husband and one of his friends attached the swing to the ceiling using the cutest bowline rope knots.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Belle Omniley (@omniley) on Jun 22, 2020 at 9:02am PDT

For the finishing touches…I looked for a few days for cushions and of course, I couldn’t find any I liked so I made my own.

I also used drop cloths to make a bed skirt and voila.

All Chinoiserie Accessories (pillows, tray, and throw) gifted from InkFlow Art (use “OMNILEY” at checkout for 15%off they have the cutest accessories)

I am so happy with the results. Please let me know what you think and if you decide to try this tutorial please send me pictures so I can feature you. Omniley?

Follow:

This post contains affiliate links.

Belle Omniley

Find me on: Web | Instagram