This past Saturday I woke up and was suddenly seized with the notion of making a swing to hang in our apartment for Ursula. It's January. It's cold. What would be more invigorating or entertaining than building a swing for a two year old? As a person with many sudden enthusiasms, I was fully prepared NOT to finish this in one day, but it turned out to be as easy as I had hoped. Here, then, is a quick how to in swing building, that can be adapted for children of any age...
Seriously. If you've got a strong enough beam or point of contact in your ceiling you should have one of these in your living room for swingin' on cold winter nights! Doesn't Lenny Kravitz have one of these?
How To Build a Simple Swing
• 1 piece of wood. Mine was pine and about 1"x10"x14" - $7
• 22' of rope. Mine was thick, white nylon - $25
• Hardware: 2 clips and 2 ceiling screws - $10
(my prices are all NYC hardware store prices, ie. more expensive than usual)
I started by doing a quick bit of research and found these two sites helpful:
>> Prairie Rose House: How to build a tree swing
>> AOL Home Improvement: How To Swing Set
Both were for outdoor swings, but the ideas are the same.
1. Went shopping and bought all the supplies I needed. I even bought a small saw, because we didn't have one.
2. The board I bought wasn't cut, so I measured Ursula's butt and found that 14" was the right width for her.
3. Cut the board in the hallway.
4. I bought a 5/6" bit to drill the holes with and spaced them @ 2" off of both edges. Two holes on each side is the way to go. One hole and it's too tippy. My swing had no braces. I guess big kids and adults would need a brace on the bottom side.
5. This is a key point and one the photo doesn't show well enough. I used two screw eye bolts and was able to find a really strong part of framing in this doorway (I went towards the edges). Ursula doesn't weigh too much, but to really secure a swing you want this point of contact to be firm. Getting a good bite of a 2x4 or going through a beam is a must.
6. The knots with the rope are all pretty simple, but it helps to have this one to join the swing rope to the rope hanging down from the ceiling. This is a Beckett bend knot above which works really well for joining the two. At the ceiling, I used a simple overhand knot, but if you have more room or are going over a rafter, this knot below, a Bowline Knot, is a good one to use.
7. Getting the seat even isn't too hard, but requires patience. At this point, I was ready to be done, but I held on and worked a little more till it was just right.
8. All done! The wood seat is waxed (didn't show that) and I may paint it. The clips that clip to the ceiling are great for quickly taking the swing up and down. The swing is compact enough that it fits into a drawer in our closet.
Enjoy!
© 2010 Apartment Therapy
Great idea! We used to do this in our garage on rainy days.
Thanks for the fabulous tutorial. I'm sure she loves it!
view racheloncegentry's profile
My grandparents always had four swings in their garage. It was so much fun. Ok I'm dating myself here, but I distinctly remember swinging to Don Johnson and Barabara Streisand's duet "Til I Loved You" on the radio.
view Joey's profile
I laughed out loud at the butt-measuring picture. So cute. You win the best Dad award!
view emmabemma's profile
Ok this is so cute I kind of can't handle it. Especially the tooshie part.
view medusa12120's profile
I love that she's crawling all over you while you're trying to work and you look completely oblivious to it. You are offically a parent.
view Sisero's profile
Super cute...but next time put on some sturdy shoes before you use a powertool...otherwise...my Mom will yell at you.
view I Love Upstate's profile
I'm inspired to do this! My little one is only 8 months old so I'll probably try using one of these: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_sg?url=search-alias%3Dsporting&field-keywords=bucket seat swing&x=0&y=0
view peetee3000's profile
Hee hee! The butt measuring picture has me cracking up.
And I am swooning at Ursula's name. What a fabulous choice! (And a beautiful little girl!)
view BambiJo's profile
I had one of these in my bedroom when I was growing up and I just loved it! Thanks so much for this project, I'll be linking in The Daily DIY.
view Rachel@oneprettything.com's profile
omg the butt-measuring photo is too. darn. cute.
view Cheryl's profile
I am officially horrified at that pic of you using two SCREW HOOKS to secure the swing to the ceiling. a) they're screws!!! unless those things have the biggest threads you've ever seen, i just can't see that lasting very long b) they're put in in such a way that its easiest for them to fall out. at minimum this rig should be attached to the beam parallel to the floor, not perpendicular.
view mh330's profile
Wow, Ursula´s becoming a big girl! :-)
view Lillian's profile
Heading to Home Depot.
view chicity1126's profile
great idea! the only cringe factor for me while looking at the first photo of ursula on the swing, is the rack of wine bottles to the left!!
view tamara's profile
Oh, to have a 14" butt. But then, my waist would be, what, 8"?
Nevermind.
LOL
view alpha's profile
Tamara that was my initial thought as well... I am a Somellier and there are some nice bottles that rack. But anyone who knows me would say that I would work around practical thoughts like that in order to please my daughter. And since we live in the Yukon (we just finished a month of -30 to -50C temps) I can see myself making one of these for next winter (my daughter just tuned 1).
view Northern Dad's profile
Ursula is a cute gorgeous little girl. :)
view Marbargarbo's profile
From personal experience, I can attest to the fact that having an indoor swing for the winter is a fabulous idea. As long as it's *very* well secured.
I was fortunate enough to grow up in a house with a basement, and Dad put up a swing (from the exposed beams in the basement) for me -- it was great. (Now, when I think back, I'm glad I never swung too high, or fell off onto the concrete floor ... back then I just had fun.) (P.S. I didn't fully appreciate that house when I was a kid... how I'd love to have the large rooms and hardwood floors now!)
view smallcitybeth's profile
And yes, Ursula is the cutest!
view smallcitybeth's profile
aw you're the best daddy. that's awesome.
@mh330 - my dad made an outdoor swingset for us as kids, and when i say 'us as kids' i mean 'four boys and two girls between the ages of 2 and 12' ... and that's all he used to hold the swings in place. And the kits you can buy to put up in your backyard have the same thing (albiet a bit bigger than what's used here.) These screws are, in fact, what is generally acceptable. I assure you that none of us died or even got injured/fell, despite many butterflies (two kids/one swing) and similar rough play. (getting hit in the head with a swing is another matter)
A two year old should be more than safe with this setup.
view lorchick's profile
I remember when I was a kid, my cousins had a swing installed in their basement and I thought it was the greatest thing ever!
view suzy8track's profile
Thanks for the tutorial! This is the perfect inexpensive solution for our back porch :-)
http://embritadesign.blogspot.com
view EmmieB's profile
Ursula is a beauty!
view louise's profile
What a good dad, and a lucky kid. The perfect way to spend 15 minutes while somebody gets lunch or dinner on the table.
This is perfect for a 2 year old! Great rainy or cold day activity too, and builds balance and core strength. Sure beats watching Nick Jr all day.
view Val1961's profile