How to Make an Indoor Swing!

We're this close to being done with our family room/playroom, but we had one more project up our sleeve--a DIY indoor swing! This simple DIY was also quick and cheap and now it's officially the most coveted seat in the house.

The corner fireplace (you can see that makeover here) pushed the area rug, table, lights, and toy storage off-centered in the room a bit, leaving the perfect amount of space for a swing we made in under 2 hours--and that includes drying time for the polycrylic.

Materials Needed

Solid piece of wood (ours measures 8 1/2 x 23 inches)
25 ft rope
Polycrylic to seal the wood (or paint if you want to go that route)
150 and 300 grit Sandpaper (A palm sander is nice to have, too. We have this one and it's under $30.)
Stud Finder
Drill
2 Screw-eyes with Rings

We had this piece of scrap black walnut from, get this, our last home's countertops! We brought it all this way because we were so sure we could use it for something and now, 3 years later, we finally did! It was just about the perfect size for our swing base. If you don't have a hunk of black walnut around, another solid wood, like poplar or pine you can get at the hardware store, will work. Get it as thick as you can for lasting strength.

1. CUT TO SIZE AND SAND

Although we liked the 8 1/4" width of the wood we had on hand, we cut the length down to 23." It's roomy for just Greta, but both girls can (and do!) swing together on it together, too. (Check out snapchat right now for a video @juliamarcum before it's gone!). After it was the size we wanted, we sanded it smooth with a palm sander and 150 grit sandpaper, making sure the corners were slightly rounded instead of sharp.

2. MAKE HOLES FOR ROPE

We made marks for the holes 1.5" in from each corner, making the rope on each side 20" apart.

Using a 1/2" drill bit, we made the holes and gave them a quick sand to get rid of any lingering wood splinters.

3. SEAL (OR PAINT!) THE SEAT

I used my favorite satin Polycrylic. It's water-based so it dries really quickly, doesn't yellow and cleans out of my brush with hot water and a drop of dish soap. It's the best, best, best! I put 3 coats on all sides,  sanding lightly with an extra fine 300+ sandpaper in between coats, for an extra-smooth, ultra-protected finish.

In between sealing sessions, I ran downstairs to take photos of Chris getting ready to hang the swing.

4. FIND STUDS/FLOOR JOISTS IN CEILING AND SECURE HOOKS

Using a stud finder, we found where floor joists in the ceiling were. As a tip, ceiling lighting is usually secured to a stud, so that's a great starting point.

Since the holes in our swing seat were 20" apart, that's how far apart our holes in the ceiling were. Chris drilled pilot holes before screwing in the screw eye.

While a regular screw eye would work just fine, we found this one with an extra ring on it and thought it would take some wear off of the rope continually going back and forth, since the ring would be the thing pivoting most.

If you have it, A small paint roller handle (or screwdriver), looped through the eye, makes screwing it into place so much easier.

5. HANG SWING

The last step is actually hanging the swing. The rope we ended up using was a natural looking poly rope I found at Ace Hardware. It was just 59 cents a foot making it about $15 for the 25 feet we bought for our swing.

After cutting it, exactly in half, we strung it through the rings and burned the edges with a lighter which melted the fibers together to prevent fraying.

Then we put each end through a hole in the seat and tied a knot. That's it!

It was the world's simplest project and it has provided hours upon hours of entertainment for our girls already, plus! It helped the room to not feel off-centered anymore.

A few measurements of note that might help you decide where you'd want a swing in your home and how many feet of rope you'll need:

• We have standard 8 ft ceilings.
• Our 6 year old (pictured below) is 52" tall and the swing seat is 18" from the floor--a comfortable height for her to get on and off by herself without her feet dragging while swinging.
• It's 21" away from the window wall, 57" away from the couch and 66" away from the fireplace, which gives them good swinging motion. 

This swing is the cherry on top of a seriously enjoyable and rewarding room we can now call done (for now anyway). We're taking photos of our finished family room and can't wait to share all the before and afters soon!

Is there a spot for an indoor swing in your home??

FAMILY ROOM SOURCES

Area Rug / Curtains / Chest of drawers for toy storage / Two-toned basket / Round Mirror / Bamboo blinds / Dog painting / Table / Chairs / Pendant lights / P-L-A-Y Letters (spray painted gold) / Globe