Recently my husband redesigned his parents waterfall in their garden area. Now, this area has been a great place for people to sit, talk and enjoy each others company. Especially for grandkids and Grandma and Grandpa. But their garden swing has seen better days, so we decided that a new swing was in order, and with Mom and Dad's anniversary just around the corner, it would make the perfect gift. First step was to do research on the different styles of porch swings available on the market today.

We discovered that there were many styles available, various sizes and out of a variety of materials. Now, our plan was to actually build our own swing, so though we knew we did not want a swing out of metal, wicker or recycled plastic, they were still worth looking at for different styles. We also had to consider what type of wood to use.

First, the wood. Though many woods will last if treated properly, there are only a handful of wood types that are good for the regular outdoor use of porch swings. The top three that come to mind are cedar, teak and redwood. Cedar weathers quite nicely to a silvery gray, teak does not change color and is a heavy and expensive wood, and not readily available in our area. Though we seriously considered cedar, we settled on redwood. It has a beautiful color, finishes nicely, plus it would match the arbor that is in the garden that my husband built a few years ago. Overall, redwood just makes real quality porch swings.

Style wise, there are a lot of options. First, how big of a swing? You can get them as small as 2' wide to as large as 6' wide. The existing swing was just 3' wide, so we decided to go a bit bigger to a 4' swing. This easily allows for 2 adults and a child, and still fits nicely into their fenced off garden area.

Next, the slat style on the porch swings varied in quite a few different ways. Some slats were wide, others were narrow. Some were laid lengthwise on the swing seat and back, others were short slats that ran back to front. Some swings combined both, the slats were the long lengths on the seat, with the shorter up and down ones on the back. We decided to have all the slats to be 4' long, running lengthwise on the swing seat and back. These were also quite simple to cut. We bought 8' lengths of 2'x6' redwood, cut them in half for the 4' lengths and then just cut 3/4" slats from the side. Each stick made six slats.

For a bit more style, on the base and top of the back, we used slightly larger slats. Also, the slat at the top of the back of the swing is curved, giving just an extra touch of style. Also, the slats curve over the front of the swing for comfort when you sit.

Next, we considered the arm styles on the porch swings that we liked. We didn't want just straight or tapered arms. Instead, we took a 2'x6' and cut it into a pleasing shape that was narrow at the back, and stylishly rounded in the front.

Overall, it turned out very nice. And though we looked at porch swings for inspiration, like many of these swings, it does not hang from a covered porch, but from a matching redwood swing stand. So we all look forward to many sunny days of sitting on the swing in front of the waterfall, enjoying the sounds of nature and the little birds that bathe and drink from the water. Yes, we are looking forward to spring, but I guess we will have to get through winter first!