Garden Patio Swing Bed - When a Simple Hammock Just Won't Do!

Wanted a spot lay down in the garden.

So, I bough a hammock. Hated it. Returned to shop in a day or two.

Regular "hanging beds" do cost around 300-500 euros down here. Decided I can build something.

Therefore, my orange garden patio swing bed was born.

It's 140cm in length and 100cm in width, regular pine.

Took me around 2 full days to make, including painting, did cost around 50 euro for wood treatment, paint, screws.

The last photo shows the swing 1 year later after survining it's first winter, no roof.

First photo has the initial pile of wood - leftovers from roof construction. Life lesson: rusty nails do not work well with bare feet.

The rest of wood came from an old swingset. Otherwise it would have been firewood.

Some chokers, hinges, semi-pastic rope, some woodscrews screws, regular pine.

Steps:

1. Cut 2 x 140 cm, 20 cm height sides. 3.5 cm thick wood.

2. Cut 2 x 90 cm, 20 cm height sides. 3.5 cm thick wood.

3. Add 5 cm x 5 cm corner holders.

4. Cut and add 1 x 90 cm cross brace for holding the middle.

5. Cut and add side holders to hold the ends of the cross boards (4th photo)

6. To draw the shape for the backrest holders, I did use a leg of a broken kichen chair. It did produce a nice curve.

7. Screw two back seat holders to the sides.

8. Make sure the back seat holders hold tight and is not wobbly.

In the end you should have a solid (and quite heavy structure)

Steps:

1. Cut the planks into needed length - 90 cms in my case and screw them into place. I'd suggest making pilot holes first, so the ends are less prone to splitting.

2. Fill all the bottom with planks.

3. Cut the backrest strips. Mine was 100 cms x 5 cms x 2.5 cms (thickness of board).

4. Used thin pieces of plywood as spacers.

5. Added extra support at the top of the backrest holders.

6. Drilled 4 holes, 1 per each corner and screwed in 4 "O" rings to attach the ring onto.

Steps:

1. Had 5x10 cm studs. Screwed pairs of them together, making 2 x 10x10 cms holders.

2. Screwed a 20cm x 5cm board to the outside wall of a house.

3. My wife did not like the look of an iron chain, so we used semi-plastic rope to hold the entire contraption in place.

Wood was treated against rot, rain and the elements and then painted.

We also added a soft matress cut to size, so it's more comfortable to sit on.

Rain water drains nicely through the small cracks on the bottom.

Happy to answer any of your questions.

Please vote for this project @ Outdoor structures contest. Thank you!