Friday, January 6, 2012

How to: Hang a swing or trapeze in your home

As I have said before, we live in Texas. Last year, we broke the all time record for most days over 100 degrees. It was something like 77 days or another ridiculous number close to that.

When it is that hot outside … you do not send your tiny children out. They will cook to death. So, our solution was simple:

How to Hang Swings Indoors www.stylewithcents.blogspot.com

Bring the fun of the outdoors … IN! Here’s how:

1. Locate a joist or solid beam in your home; One that has plenty of room on either side … conducive to swinging. Perhaps … a doorway or hallway. ??

2. Pick up some porch swing hangers (the hardware shown below). I’ve been able to find them at Wal-Mart all three times I’ve needed them. They cost about $6 for the two pieces.

3. Screw those puppies into the joist. The ones we used are about 6 inches long and at least 1/4” in diameter – these are some big screws!

Hanging Swings Indoors Using Porch Swing Hardware www.stylewithcents.blogspot.com

4. Figure out how high or low your swing(s) needs to hang and make adjustments accordingly. Our children were very small when we first installed our swings, so additional chain, to lengthen the swing, was necessary.


Indoor Swing Hardward Porch Swing Hardware www.stylewithcents.blogspot.com

 

Indoor Trapeze Swing www.stylewithcents.blogspot.com

5. If you are making a trapeze (or “monkey swing” as it is called in our house), you just want to pick up a piece of wooden rod (about 14” across), drill a hole on either end (spray paint it your favorite color), thread some bolts through it, and finish it off with a washer and nut below the rod.

Swing Hardware for Hanging Swings Indoors www.stylewithcents.blogspot.com

Bingo. A trapeze swing for pennies!

 

Hanging Swings Indoors www.stylewithcents.blogspot.com

6. You can find swings, like the green/yellow one pictured, at Wal-Mart, Home Depot, Toys R Us, and many other stores for around $12-$30/each. They are worth every penny!

Once you’ve installed your indoor swing set … sit back and watch, with calm assurance, as your 3 year old pushes your 1 year old on the swing. This seriously saved my life when they were little. I never worried about them getting hurt because the swing was a foot off of the carpeted ground.

These are great in the winter time too … when it’s just too cold to go outside! 

This was one purchase/install that we have never regretted. Hours and hours of enjoyment, watching our children swing and squeal in delight.



** BTW, since this was installed in a joist … my husband and I often swing with the kiddos on our lap. It can take the weight! It’s held over 300 lbs of adults and kids before and never budged.

For those of you with questions:

1. No, we have not noticed any wear pattern on our carpet under the swings. Not even a little bit.

2. When we don’t want the swings down … we just tie them up on a hook, which is mounted on the side of the wall. When we want them down again, we just unhook them and they drop right back into place.

8 comments:

  1. love the swings. so fun.

    Question on your mirrors- I noticed ya'lls have the clip things that stick out in the front- how did you compensate for those when adding the trim around the mirror?

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  2. I found your blog on pinterest (i'm a pinterest addict, too!) and love it! I hope you don't mind if I follow you!

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  3. Tawna, you just cut the 4 pieces with a miter saw to the exact size of the mirror ... then, remove those bracket things that are on the top of the mirror (our mirrors were glued on the walls), then adhere the pieces of baseboard (which you've already painted) to the mirror using adhesive caulking. To hold the pieces of baseboard in place while they dry, tape them up with painters tape. I really should have taken a picture. Let me know if this doesn't make sense. :D

    Brooke, I take it as a compliment that you'd want to follow anything I do. Thanks! :D

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  4. You are brilliant. I have ALWAYS lusted after your indoor swings. You ARE married to Superman :)!

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  5. Great idea! I'm definitely adding this to my basement. Love the blog guys, let me know if you'd ever want to swap guest posts. I think our readers are similar. - Jason www.ifinishedmybasement.com

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  6. You are just too smart. It was 72 days of ridiculous heat. I'm in Arlington. I wasn't sure I could take it another day.
    Love, love all the spray painting you have been doing to fix your bling!
    Katie
    katietreasures.blogspot.com

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  7. Nice idea! I don't need swings but I always thought to hang something from the ceiling (ie, my bicycle but I also played with the idea of hanging a daybed or anything else). Can you post how Superman managed to screw those things in the beam? I thought beams (and columns) were very difficult to drill, if not impossible. Thanks!

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