For as long as I can remember, Mike and I have admired swinging beds. The swinging beds that have really caught our eye are the big ones – the ones where 2 people could sit on it at the same time with their legs propped up and also big enough for a napping spot. (I’m still not sure why we thought the napping spot was important since we are way too busy for naps – ha! ha!). We needed to know how to build a swinging bed.
In our Texas house, we originally considered putting a swinging bed on our front porch. But, the front porch would only allow room for a twin size swinging bed and we wanted bigger. (remember, the napping spot was important – lol!) So, we ended up just putting a regular porch swing in Texas. This was lovely but still didn’t soothe our itch for a swinging bed.
When we first toured our lake house, I distinctly remember entering the screened in porch and looking at Mike. At the same time we both said, “This would be perfect for a swinging bed!” Even before we purchased the lake property, we had already made one decision. IF we did end up buying that house, there would be a swinging bed on that very porch.
As I’ve previously mentioned, one of the first projects we decided to tackle during our lake house renovation was the screened in porch. We told ourselves that we were starting with the porch because it was a smaller project. We could easily wrap our arms around this project. But, actually I think that the lure of finally getting a swinging bed had a lot to do with our decision to start there. (Ha!) I know, sometimes it’s the little things in life, right?
With our DIY spirit, we would never dream of purchasing a swinging bed that was already made. So, we set out to make one with our very own hands. (Well, mostly my husband’s hands but I was there every step of the way- handing him tools and screwing in screws – all very important!) I was so, so happy the day we went to purchase the supplies. We ultimately decided to build a swinging bed that would accommodate a full-size mattress. As they say, “go big or go home” which is exactly what we did.
We spend $275 on supplies to build the bed. To hang the bed we spent $150 . This did NOT include the price of the mattress. So, all in to build and hang the bed cost us around $425. Have you seen the prices on these things already made? The closest one I could find online to the FULL SIZE one we built was over $2,200 for the bed and mounting hardware. WOW! This was a very budget friendly project for us. Plus, we had a custom swinging bed just the way we wanted it at the end of the day!
To build the bed, we purchased:
- Thirty-four 2”x 4”x 8’ white pine boards
- 3” Deck screws
To hang the bed, we purchased:
- Eight eye bolts with washers (4 bolts that were ½” x 12” and 4 bolts that were 3/8” x 6”)
- Four ¼” anchor shackles and four 3/16” anchor shackles
- 36 feet of 3/16” galvanized chain
- Two 4″ x 4″ x 8 ft. cedar beams
- 50′ of manila rope
We knew that our bed needed to be built for a mattress that was 54” x 75”. So my hubby cut 17 of the 2” x 4” s into 92” lengths.
He laid these all out horizontally and then cut three 2” x 4”s into 60” lengths. The three 60” boards were eventually going be laid vertically across the 17 horizontal boards and screwed into them to become the base of the bed. The three vertical boards would be placed 5” from one end, 5” from the other end, and one in the middle.
In order to easily attach the vertical boards to the horizontal boards, Mike started at one end. He picked up each horizonal board one by one and measured over 5 inches and screwed the horizonal board into the vertical board using the 3” deck screws. Just so you get the picture, the vertical board was underneath the horizontal boards as shown below.
He did one entire side like this. Then he moved to the next side where he repeated the same process measuring 5 inches from the other side. When attaching the boards, he used 2 screws in each horizontal board.
To attach the 3rd vertical board, he found the center of the base and marked it with a straight edge on both the top and bottom. He then lifted up the base and placed the 3rd vertical board underneath and on the line that he had drawn. He attached the 3rd board using the same 2 screw technique and used the straight edge line as his mark to help him determine the appropriate screw placement. (Mike originally used a few 3 ½” deck screws that we had left over from another job to attach the 3rd vertical board and ended up screwing our bed to the floor – ha! ha! So important lesson, be sure to use the correct length screws!)
Next, he moved on to building the arms. He built a rectangle with the 2” x 4” boards. The top board was 53”, the bottom board was 50”, and the 2 side boards were 18” and 16 ½”. He attached the boards in the following manner so that the front of the arm rest was one board without any board ends showing through.
On the front edge of the arms that were going to be most visible, he mitered the end on the top board and one of the side boards. To achieve the mitered edge, he basically cut it at a 45 degree angle. Next, he attached the 4 pieces of the rectangle together using the same 3” deck screws.
In order to create a way to attach the rectangle arms to the back, he cut two 2” x 4” s into 15” lengths. He placed one of the boards on the back end of the rectangle and in between the top and bottom of the rectangle with the 4” side facing out. He placed the other board also in between the top and bottom of the rectangle with the 2” side facing out. Once again, he attached the boards together with screws.
To enhance the look of the bed and provide additional strength, we decided to put X’s in the rectangles of the arms. To do this, Mike decided what angle he wanted the X’s, then measured the 2” x 4”s the appropriate length and cut them. He cut four of these – 2 for each side. This is how it looked when he installed the first leg of the X.
This is how it looked when he added the second leg of the X.
Next, he made the back rest. Once again, he started by making a rectangle out of four 2” x 4”s. The top board was 75”, the bottom board was 75”, and the 2 side boards were 24”. Once again, on the 2 top corners that were going to be the most visible, he mitered the corners.
To continue making the back rest, he then cut a single 2” x 4” 22 ½” inches long and placed and attached it in the middle which divided the back rest into 2 parts. To complete the back, he added boards in the shape of X’s just as he had done on the 2 arms. He decided what angle he wanted the X’s then measured and cut the 2” x 4”s the appropriate length. He cut four of these – 2 for each half of the back rest. This is how it looked when he installed the X’s onto the back.
At this point, I was on cloud nine with how this thing was turning out. I mean, look at it!! I could already envision sitting here with Mike looking out on the water while enjoying an adult beverage. But, back to reality – we still had a long way to go before we had our finished product.
We had planned on staining the base of the bed and painting the arms and backrest. It is WAYYYYYY easier to accomplish this BEFORE it is all attached together. So, before attaching the arms and the backrest, we put the finishes on each item and let them totally dry.
For the base, we used the stain by Sherwin Williams called Charwood (SW 3542) because we already had it and it was the same stain we had used on the ceiling of the screened in porch. The rich, dark color looked beautiful against our white shiplap walls.
For the arms and the back rest, we first put a coat of primer on it since our wood was brand spanking new. (Does anyone else like the smell of fresh cut lumber? Yummy!!) After the primer was dry, we added 2 coats of one of our favs – Eider White (SW 7014) by Sherwin Williams. This is the same color that we used to paint the shiplap walls on the inside of our screened in patio.
To give our piece some personality and more of a farmhouse look, we then “dry brushed” a couple of other colors on the arms and back rest in random places on top of the Eider White. We have so many different grays and browns we have used on other projects that I honestly can’t remember the specific colors we used. But, we did use a lighter gray paint and also a darker brown stain for dry brushing.
If you’ve never dry brushed before, you should try it. It’s a really simple technique and is performed just like it sounds “with a very dry brush”. We used those inexpensive (usually around $1) chip brushes that you can get at any hardware store. All you do is dip the tip into your paint/stain and blot off most of it on a paper towel. Then, with your almost “dry” brush, brush onto your surface. We played around with our dry brushing until we got the look we wanted. My motto with paint is “you can always paint over it if you don’t like it!”
Once the staining and painting was completed, it was on to attaching the arms and backrest to the base. We did end up putting our full-size mattress on the base of the bed to check for proper placement before we committed to screwing it all down. Mike also spent quite a bit of time playing around with how to position the backrest. In the end, we decided to slightly angle the back like the picture below shows.
The arms and back were then attached to the base with the 3” deck screws. Woo-hoo!! And there it is – our finished work of art!! We did it – we built a swinging bed. We hope you enjoyed this tutorial on how to build your own swinging bed.
Now, we just need to hang it, cover the full-size mattress, and add bolsters and pillows. I bet you are on pins and needles wondering when we used the eye bolts and anchor shackles – stay tuned and read our post on how to hang a swinging bed.
It was getting close, but still more work to do!! The excitement mounts!
