DIY Hanging Swing Chair: How to Turn a Chair Into a Swing

Considering a hanging swing chair for your porch or yard? Make your own DIY hanging chair swing by turning an old wood chair into a swing.

You’ll also like: How to Make Your Own Indoor Swing, How to Hang a Swing Chair (Indoors or Out), and Our Favorite Hanging Swing Chairs and Benches.

I always love finding interesting chairs at thrift stores or yard sales.

Don’t worry — I always clean them up good before taking them in the house!

Most chairs are singles, though, and I can only use so many chairs around the dining table or around the house.

And often there are perfectly good chairs with one broken leg getting tossed in the dumpster or offered up for FREE to anyone who wants to try to fix them.

Well, this is the perfect project for a slightly broken chair! No legs? No problem for this DIY swing chair!

This would be a great option to make a tree swing or a porch swing from a chair (or two, see our ideas below). Take that fun chair from the living room into the backyard or out on the patio!

DIY Hanging Swing Chair

Two sisters at Peppertowne* created a new life for an old chair, turning it into a garden swing!

They started with this great little throw-away chair, $8 at the local thrift shop.

The cane chair backing and upholstery was clean, and the wood chair was in great condition and still sturdy for sitting.

Be sure to tighten up any joints and make sure the chair is really solid before trying to turn it into a swing!

So they sawed off the legs, painted the dark wood backing, and drilled a couple of holes.

And now that old chair is the perfect tree swing hideaway in their garden!

*Since this posting, the sisters have stopped blogging and the site is gone, so the link has been removed.

• Learn how to make your own wood and fabric DIY swing.
• Interested in making your own macrame swing chair? Check out this Instructables tutorial.
• Want to make a DIY hammock chair? Get the details from this hammock chair tutorial at Kaleidoscope Living.

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How to Make a Chair into a DIY Swing Chair

We’ve had a lot of questions about how to make an old chair into a swing, so here are this Remodelaholics thoughts on it. (Since the Peppertowne gals aren’t blogging anymore, this is just my guess on how they did it, based on how I would do it.)

1. Select a sturdy wood frame chair (or metal frame if it’s really strong). Fix any loose joints, etc as needed. The chair needs to be very durable to be safe for swinging.
2. Remove the legs. Use a circular saw, jigsaw, or reciprocating saw depending on what you have and how the legs look.
3. Sand and paint the chair, and reupholster if you want. (See how to reupholster a fabric chair seat here and more tips for reupholstering a wood chair here.)
4. Attach 2×4 supports to the chair swing (optional). If you’re not sure the stability of the chair frame, or if the chair frame would be hard to attach eye screws/rope to hang, cut 2 pieces of 2×4 a few inches wider than the base of the chair seat. Use exterior wood screws (and exterior wood glue, if you’d like) to attach the supports to the base of the chair seat, parallel to the front of the swing. (See the photo below.)
5. Cut a long piece of rope (1/2″ or thicker recommended). Fold it in half and tie a knot so there’s a loop at the top. If you’d like to have the option to make it adjustable, you can tie a series of knots like we did to hang these swing chairs.
6. Tie one end of the rope to the front of the swing, if possible, or install an eye screw to attach the rope. Be sure to pre drill before installing the eye screw! I’d suggest a bowline knot or double bowline to secure the rope to the chair or eye screw – they’re much more secure than square knots.
7. Tie the other end of the rope to the back of the swing or install an eye screw to attach the rope. You’ll want the top loop to be roughly centered along the depth of the chair for the chair to sit level (or slightly reclined). Again, a bowline or double bowline knot is a good option.
8. Repeat for the other side of the chair or bench.
9. Add hanging hardware. If you’re hanging from a horizontal ceiling beam/rafter/joist, you can follow this tutorial for hanging a swing using an eye screw, quick connect carabiners, and rope or chain. If you’re hanging from a tree branch, swing hanging straps like this make it easy to hang a swing without doing too much damage to the tree. Either way, using stainless steel quick link carabiners (available at most local hardware stores) makes it easy to hook up the swing (and take it down for winter).
10. Level the swing. This is the tricky party, getting the swing to hang evenly! One point connections (like a tire swing or our macramé chair swing here) are easier for this reason, but two-point connections take just a little bit more finagling to level out. Adjust the knots where they attach to the swing to get the swing height and direction you want.
11. Enjoy! Add a pillow or outdoor cushion, and get swinging!

Safety and Liability: Please remember, this blog is for entertainment purposes only. As with ALL of our DIY projects and tutorials, be certain to read over the complete tutorial before starting a project. Build at your own risk and be smart, be safe. We will not be responsible for any injury or damage incurred while following a tutorial from our site. None of our posts should be considered expert advice; please consult a professional when needed, read all safety and instruction manuals, and take all safety precautions. All projects performed following instructions found on this site are done at your own risk.

More fun furniture upcycle projects

• Turn an Old Crib into a Couch
• Upcycled Dresser into Kitchen Island
• 25 Amazing Upcycled Headboard Ideas
• Coffee Table Upcycled Into a Bench

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First published 10 Jun 2010 // Last updated 11 Jan 2024