Last Fall my mom asked me if I wanted the swing that she had purchased many years ago for my older sister, Boogart. Of course, I said yes! It was a porch swing that Boogart used to love. I love a good porch swing, too, so I brought it home. That’s when I informed Jay that he would need to build me a frame for it.

When we redid our front porch three years ago (it’s been that long already?!) we had to pay extra to get the support beam fixed. The previous owners were supposed to do it, according to the contract, but they just pretended like they had fixed it. We knew that anything in that roof was not going to be able to handle the weight of a porch swing plus me on it.

I went online and found some examples of frames that I thought might fit on our front porch. I wanted it to go on the end, to the right of our front window. It’s an awkward space that I haven’t really known how to use in the summer. So last week I made Jay his annual To Do list and placed the porch swing frame on it. I want to be able to enjoy it once the weather is nice enough. Luckily, it was one of the projects that Jay decided to start. He cut and assembled it in the basement, then brought it up to the front porch for final assembly.

I thought it would look cute if we could place it on an angle.

After double-checking the dimensions, though, we realized it wouldn’t fit because of the extra support 2×4’s that had been placed on the outside of the frame.

We ended up putting it at the end, but that’s okay. It’s a better use of that space.

Doesn’t it look so comfortable?!

Jay was trying it out. He wanted to make sure that it wouldn’t tip easily.

I kept having to explain to him that a porch swing is for leisurely swinging and that you’re not supposed to try to break world records for how many times you can flip the porch swing around the top beam.

I might have to keep an eye on him, though. I can tell that he’s itching to see how fast he can get it swinging. I might have to teach him the fine points of Front Porch Swinging. I come from a long line of Front Porch Sitters with a strong leisurely style. It’s coded deep in my genetics to be ready to relax at a moment’s notice. Jay is just the opposite. It’s what keeps me on my toes.

Jay hated that I wanted him to use pressure treated wood because it’s “ugly”. I told him that I was NOT going to refinish it every year just because he wanted to make it out of regular pine. Once the pressure treated wood weathers for a year I’ll be able to use an outdoor stain and make it prettier.