How to Build a Porch Swing Bed

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Finish Nailer
• Tape Measurer
• Wood Glue
• Wood Stain
• Wood Filler
• Miter Saw
• Sand Paper
• Jig Saw
• 4 Eye Screws
• 1 1/4″ Finish Nails
• 2″ Finish Nails

Wood

• 3 pieces of 1″ x 8″ x 8′ clear pine
• 8 pieces of 1″ x 3″ x 8′ clear pine
• 1 piece of 1″ x 4″ x 8′ clear pine
• 2 pieces of 2″ x 3″ x 8′ framing lumber
• 1 piece of 2″ x 4″ x 8′ framing lumber
• 3 pieces of 1″ x 3″ x 8′ knotty pine

I started off by building the main bed frame out of the 1×8’s. You can find the measurements in the illustration. On these joints I used 2″ finish nails.

Then I added an inner frame for support and something to nail the bed slats to. On the sides I used 2×4’s for some extra bulk since this is where the eye screws will go through. I made sure the bottom of the 2×4’s were flush with the bottom of the frame. Then I nailed and glued them onto the inside of the frame using 2″ nails. For the front and back I used 2×3’s making sure the top was even with the top of the 2×4’s.

For the slats, I cut 6 39″ long pieces of the 1×3 knotty pine and spaced them out evenly along the inside of the bed frame as seen blow and nailed them in place. This will be the support for the mattress.

Then I constructed 4 posts out of the 1×3 clear pine, one for each corner.

Each post is made from two pieces. I applied a bead of glue down one edge.

I placed the other piece on top of the glued edge to form an “L” shape and made sure the edges were perfectly lined up. Then I nailed the two pieces together with 2″ nails.

After all four posts were in place, I cut all of the rails. These are the horizontal pieces that connect all of the posts. I attached all of the back rails first. Then the side rails. Refer to the illustration below for lengths and spacing.

As I mentioned earlier, I really wanted to design this swing to be super simple to build with only straight cuts that could be done with the miter saw, but then I got to the arm rest pieces which required a little extra cutting. I first cut each arm piece to length from a piece of 1×3. Then I had to use a jig saw to cut out a notch for it to fit around the back post as you can see below.

After I finished these cuts, I glued and nailed them in place as shown in the illustration. Then I added 1×3 trim around the bottom of the swing on all four sides using glue and 1 1/4″ nails.

The final step in the building process was adding the top to the back and a middle rail support. For the top piece, I used 1×4 and for the middle support, I used 1×3.

I filled all holes with wood putty and to round off the corners a bit and get rid of any splinters I sanded the swing with fine sand paper. I then applied a coat of stain and three coats of polyurethane. Even though the swing won’t be in direct weather, I wanted to give it a little extra protection.

Once everything was dry. It was time to add the eye screws. The rope will run through these and hold up the swing. I measured 1″ from the edge of the post, and 1 1/4″ up from the bottom, which put me in the middle of the bottom trim piece. Then I drilled my hole for the eye screw and screwed it in.

And that’s it. When you hang your swing, you’ll use the same eye screws in the ceiling. You just need to make sure that you are screwing into ceiling joists. For the mattress, any twin mattress should work, and you can get a  burlap mattress cover from World Market. Then you can finish it off with some pillows.