Swing Ideas, Tips & Guides

Color choice is important, but timing is actually everything when it comes to painting your home’s exterior. If you’re tackling this project as a DIYer, now's the time to get to work.

Up until this year, my backyard was all about function. But as summer approaches and our garden comes to life, the need to decorate outdoors and make our patio a more welcoming place to spend every sunny day has begun to blossom.

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Now that 2024 is in full swing, it’s time to refresh more than our calendars and wardrobes—our homes could use some love, too.

Poinsettias are one of the most popular Christmas plants. However, their care extends beyond Christmas.

Q: I’m going away for Christmas, but I’m a bit concerned about all my houseplants in my absence. Do you think it would be a good idea to get a friend to pop by (we’ll be gone for nearly a fortnight) to water them while I’m gone? SK, Dublin

Stacy Zarin Goldberg

Our fourth advent prize draw comes with your chance to win a beautiful kiln-dried Carved Oak Rope Swing, worth £379 from Sitting Spiritually.

Firewood Rocky Hill CT: Convenient Pick-Up or Delivery by Stonehedge

Inspire yourself from the tutorials below to create beautiful hanging planters for your beloved pothos plants; you can also house other similar indoor plants like philodendron or asparagus ferns.

As the nights draw in and the temperatures begin to dip, it’s time to let your garden furniture take a break for the season until warmer months arrive once again.

Not only do they provide a cozy spot for lounging, hanging egg chairs add a whimsical touch to any space — whether that be on a porch, in the backyard or used as non-traditional seating inside the house. Picture a natural rattan design in the corner of a minimalist bedroom layout, a statement wicker chair in the corner of your fall porch or a weatherproof style hanging poolside. Whether your aesthetic leans modern or boho, we've rounded up the best hanging egg chairs you're guaranteed to love.

Learning through pretend play is essential to a child's development — and a playhouse can encourage kids of all ages to take their imaginations to the next level. Playhouses can broaden creativity, build physicality and motivate socialization, all under the guise of playground-like play.

A new season brings the perfect opportunity to start fresh, whether that means trying out a new morning process or getting organized once and for all. For Meg Markland of Neat by Meg, it’s all about getting back into a routine. 

Fun, stylish and relaxing, a hammock is a great addition to any garden. A luxury that won’t break the bank, it lets you put your feet up in style, swaying in your own personal cocoon, ideal for dozing off, reading a book or escaping the stresses of the modern world.

Glidden

Emily Followill

The seed catalogue season is in full swing and I paused to consider their value to gardeners.

We are well and truly into festival season, but for some of us the allure of live music and days of partying is cancelled out by the huge crowds, shared facilities and mandatory camping. So why not bring that festival back home and create a wonderland in your garden for entertaining friends and relaxing, far away from the madding crowd?

Fall bird migration is in full swing in South Carolina. As our temperatures cool and the days get shorter, many birds start preparing to move south. Many warblers pass through the South Carolina Botanical Garden (SCBG) on their way to subtropical and tropical areas. If you visit the SCBG with your binoculars, you may see some warblers in the migratory flight path located below and behind the Bob Campbell Geology Museum.

On a recent walk through the neighborhood with our family dog, it was apparent that fall was in full swing. Except for the evergreens, fewer trees have a full canopy of green leaves. Deciduous tree leaves are transitioning in color from green to yellow, orange, red, and purple hues as temperatures decrease and day lengths shorten. The changing color of leaves is a spectacular event most years. However, nothing announces the arrival of autumn like leaves raining down from trees to scatter across the landscape. This serves as a reminder that fallen leaves are a free, valuable, and often underused natural resource.

Kitchen renovations are a serious commitment of time, money, and patience. If you’re considering upgrading your outdated, inefficient kitchen or are in the midst of a down-to-the-stud renovation, now is the time to decide what design features will make your life easier. After all, you don’t want or get a re-do anytime soon.  Would an appliance garage clear a cluttered countertop, or would a beverage station come in handy? To narrow down the top features you should consider adding to your kitchen, we tapped Ami McKay, president and principal designer of Vancouver-based PURE Design: Interior Design, Build, & Shoppe Read on for her seven smart suggestions.

My son had outgrown his twin size bed and was ready for a new one. I decided to build an outdoor swinging bed that the family could enjoy on a cool summer afternoon. Below I'll show you how I built it.

My husband really wanted a swing for us to use while the kids ran outside. So, I caved and told him to go for it! He’s a contractor, so he definitely has a lot of experience to whip up something like this in a day! He went to a local lawn care store and bought the actual swing. They can also be ordered online. They usually run around $200. Then he went to Lowes to get two 12 foot 6x6 posts and a 10 foot 2x12 boards (for the top part-to hang the swing on), chains to hang the swing, and a ton of 3 inch decking screws, and cement. He dug the holes to put the 6x6 posts with post hole diggers (he owns some through his business). He dug 32 inches in the ground and put the posts in and then added cement/water to make it more sturdy. Once he had the posts in, he added the top post (2x12’s-he cut the edges to give it a fancier look). He put blocks up there to hold the swing. He then screwed in metal hooks to hold the chains for the swing. Once he had all that done, he hung the swing. We absolutely love it and use it a lot when the kids are playing outside. Take a look!

I'm going to show you how to build a super simple, yet beautiful swing bed for your porch. I've designed and built several of these, and they have become my favorite DIY project.

Amazon Prime Day is here—and, speaking from experience, there’s truly no better time to stock up on all things home. Prime Day is the retailer’s biggest sale of the year, and it promises all-time low prices across all of its product categories, including vacuums, bedding, appliances, smart tech, gardening and outdoor products, and more.

Porch swings are easy projects and require not much of time and effort. Moreover, making one will greatly enhance the look of your house and will be a great addition to your patio furniture! If you too want to make one without spending too much, then check out these amazing DIY Outdoor Swings ideas!

It’s been said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. You’ve probably heard that trope a time or two—but the process of actually making said breakfast when you’re fighting to wake up and rushing to get out the door isn’t always easy. It’s understandable to get in the habit of swinging through a Starbucks drive-thru rather than standing at the stove.

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Homeowners—now more than ever—enjoy outdoor living by incorporating the front porch into their decor space; rather than let it go to waste as unused square footage. Even in colder months when outdoor living isn’t possible, homes utilize front porch Christmas decor and front porch lights to bring warmth, cheer, and brightness to the cold, dark season.

The steep stairs at the top of the deck were wide open and with a new puppy who loves to run, a gate was essential for his safety and to make sure he couldn’t run into the neighbors’ yards. I decided to create a swinging gate with a safety latch that matched the sunburst pattern on the rest of the deck. By cutting slats and attaching them in a similar pattern, I was able to produce a gate that matches perfectly with the design of the rest of the deck. It looks like it was built at the same time!

When you’re a child, you’re always crafting. Even the simplest bits and pieces that you find around the house are turned into clumsy but colorful works of art but, as we get older, we tend to lose some of that limitless imagination.

This post was submitted to the Grillo Designs blog by Marcie Goodman. She shares a great step by step tutorial on how how she created this swinging bed from pallets for her deck! Hard to believe right? Keep reading! (You can also see other DIY PALLET project ideas on the blog by clicking HERE)

We have a small side yard we turned into a kids’ play area several years ago when our oldest was a toddler. Now that our children have grown up a little, they needed more than a basic swing set. We came up with our own play set design to fit our space, one part being the monkey bars.

Welcome to today's DIY tutorial on creating stunning outdoor orb lights using wire hanging planters and fairy lights.

The cost of heating a home, along with the surge in popularity of outdoor firepits and chimineas, has created a huge demand for firewood. An axe is an essential tool if you use wood from your own trees or buy whole logs, as large pieces will need to be split to fit your stove or fireplace. If the logs are still very fresh, splitting also helps them to dry out enough to be useful as firewood. An axe is also handy for making little sticks and slivers of kindling. Making your own kindling is much cheaper and more environmentally friendly than buying it in plastic bags or using most types of commercial firelighter.