Baby Crib to a Porch Swing
We just finished our back porch and wanted to add a porch swing, but all the ones we were looking at were very expensive! So, I had this brilliant idea to convert our son’s crib to a porch swing. We used our dining room chairs and couch arms as reference as how high to go, 17 inches in the back and 10 inches on the side. We used 1x3 to cap the arm rests and 1x3’s for back support. And to cap off the top. We used 2x4’s to put on the bottom for support and to extend them past each side of the crib and put a hole in it to put the rope to hang it! We had to find the rafters on our covered porch and put two rings to hang it! Check it out!
Dining chair for reference
Before
This is the arm chair for reference.
The side of the crib after it had been cut down by a skill saw, and a primed 1x3 was added at the top with trim screws and a drill.
We did the same thing to the other side. We cut down the back part down to 17 inches with a skill saw. We used a 1x2 and attached that with a nail gun and a 1x3 at the top and used another primed 1x3 as back support.
Here's the rope we found at Ace Hardware.
We then attached the bed frame piece of the crib. We used trim screws and a drill.
Trying to figure how high we wanted off the ground. Low option
High Option.
To hang:
First, we located two rafters to install the 4 eye hooks. We then put the the bed swing on a couple of 5 gallon buckets and in the right position so we could get the placement and height we wanted. Since we had a slopped ceiling going left to right we used a level and straight edge going straight up from each rope hole on bottom of swing to get the proper width. We used 3/4” twisted Sisal rope with simple knots to hang the swing
Bam! There it is!
We love it!
Frequently asked questions
Have a question about this project?
Awesome idea...but what is the purpose for the piece of wood that's displayed in front?...is it to place your feet (as an otterman)while sitting?
So you used the mattress form the bed as the seat?...that's cool ....I love this idea wish my porch was that wide ....Love it ....Great job !!!
Incredibly done! Wondering what we could do with our Grandchildren’s Young America prized possession for 6 Grandchildren. You explained & illustrated so clearly. Our deck is about 25 + feet off the ground . Wonder how hard it would be to make a glider ? Any suggestions?
Will it go back and forth evenly, considering the two different rope lengths?