How to hang an outdoor daybed (on video!)

Last week, we shared how we built our DIY outdoor hanging daybed that we installed on our front porch. And as promised, I’m back to share how we hung it up because, if you’re like me, hanging things that are meant to support the full weight of a human body (or two!) Can make you a little nervous. Actually it was extremely easy to do. So easy that we did it more than once (ha!) That it produced the smoothest, most energetic effect (the first comment attempt got him leaning forward and backward a bit, which wasn’t perfect). Thankfully, the second attempt worked like magic. Plus it means we can document everything for you, so you can properly skip the command to do it the best way on the first try. Here’s what it looked like when I last saw it, after our initial comment attempt: We mentioned that we were going to re-hang it in a post last week, because once it was hung with only two hooks to the ceiling, we realized that hanging it that way made the daybed swing from front to back a little more than we used to. Hopefully, like the actual swing you find on the court. When I sat on the front edge, he was leaning forward. When I put on it it felt like you were swinging back and forth in a very shallow U-motion. It wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, but we did envision a rocking motion more subtle as the bed stays flat and flat all the time. We knew that would be the result of an upgrade to four roof hooks. Thankfully, she succeeded! The bed can still swing gently, but no more swing back and forth like it was a real swing. Everyone stays flat and flat while lying down, reading, or hanging out – and we couldn’t be happier with the result. So it might seem like a little detail, but securing the four-point daybed to the ceiling was a huge improvement, and it’s also easier to understand on video, which is why we filmed the whole process. The video below covers everything from the devices we used, how to calculate rope relaxation (it’s so little!), And why you shouldn’t be afraid of complex knots (which is something I dealt with as we pictured this). It’s definitely one of our weirdest videos (I had no idea Sherry would be laughing so hard when I explained what sold me on the smaller eye hooks attached to the daybed), so I hope you find it useful and / or fun: Note: You can also watch this video on YouTube You can turn on auto-generated closed captions if that works for you. If you aren’t able to watch the video at the moment, I’ll cover some of the basics in the following paragraphs, but the video is particularly explanatory, so come back and watch it whenever you are actually planning to hang up your daybed hopefully it proves your experience. You’ll also discover the difference between literal and metaphorical phrases – and how this can dramatically change the meaning of a sentence. Daybed hanging materials Just like the hanging process itself, the list of materials is very simple: be careful that this rope stretches under the weight of your daybed and your body. So you need to hang your daybed well above the final height you want, which is where your 5 gallon buckets come in. You can see a real demonstration of this fact in the video above (it’s really helpful). How to Hang Your Daybed When looking for ways to hang our daybed, we’ve seen a bunch of different tutorials that all recommend one detail in common: Support your daybed with 5 gallon buckets while hanging up (like this one and this one). Just as many of them warn, it will sound quite loud. But as you saw in our video, once you remove the buckets at the end, and you’re sitting on your daybed, the rope rises to a much better height. So don’t skip these details or the end result will be an insanely low (and possibly ground skimming) daybed. Did you see how much falls in our video? It’s almost unbelievable how many inches the cords can relax in a second or two. We used some heavy duty screw eye hooks for our roof, making sure to tie them into a sturdy support beam. We do have a exposed porch ceiling, but if you don’t, use a stud finder to locate a solid spot to hang your daybed. We installed one hook for each corner of the daybed, making sure to place it exactly the same distance as the hooks in the bed underneath. Tying your rope We have threaded our rope through these eye hooks using the captain’s knot knot because it is an adjustable knot, which means we will be able to adjust the height if our daybed becomes uneven. She showed how we linked them in the video (nice and slow for you to track at home) – or you can refer to a tutorial like this one. We used slightly smaller screw hooks on the bottom which were the perfect size to thread a 3/4 rope through. Be sure to drill guide holes before attaching them. Another tip is that you can use a screwdriver like a lever to help you roll it all over in your daybed (as you can see below): With the rope already attached to the top eye hook, we threaded it through the bottom and cut off the excess, leaving about two feet of the extra cord on the bottom, just to be Safe. Before tying the bottom knots, we used a tape measure to make sure the daybed was exactly where we wanted it (centered in the space) and that it wasn’t twisted or skewed to one side. Then we just used a basic pretzel knot (I’m sure that’s not the technical name) screwed under the eye hook below each corner. Once we tightly screwed all four knots onto each lower eye hook, we removed the buckets and left the daybed hanging freely. Then I sat on it. It’s an exciting moment, if not a little nerve-wracking, especially since you might hear the rope creak loudly as it stretches and relaxes under your weight (you can see and hear it in our video!). You may also notice that it is pulling the rope tightly over the lower knots. You can see from that image above that we’ve picked the extra rope, and trimmed it so that it hangs over the surface underneath. You don’t want him to drag on the floor because he’s likely to get dirtier that way – and it’ll make an annoying sound if he’s swaying as you sway. Finishing touches If we have any issues with our daybed hitting the fence behind it, it can knock on it if you’re trying to do it actively, but if you hang around on it and swing gently, you don’t. . Most porch hammocks and hanging daybeds are hung close to some sort of handrail, and it’s only up to the people on it to not break them. We had this setup in the Pink House, and it worked fine too. Our kids know it’s not a great Jeronimo adventure (they have one of the ones already in the yard), but just in case someone decides to go in like a smashing ball, we added some of these transparent furniture bumpers along the back edge, just to help Protect the corner of the bed from damage if contacted. Nobody really sees this aspect (it’s hidden in front of the handrail – which I fired over and over to get this photo), so we thought it wouldn’t hurt to add them, just for peace of mind. So, this is the prefab balcony daybed that now hangs from its four mounting points to the ceiling. It’s hard to describe how much this lounge has improved for the truly great experience of sitting here (we used to have some simple chairs, but it’s really nice to have your legs fully extended and lounge seating). You can see my full leg extension here. And because we couldn’t resist before and after, I thought I’d take this same-angle photo, taken on the first day we saw this house last February. The side porch was fully scrutinized and full of mold and rotten floorboards again in those days: It’s weird to think this Friday will be exactly one year (even today!) Since we first set our eyes on this home. This balcony was one of the strangest places at the time (it didn’t help that it was very rainy and dark that afternoon) and it’s great to see how far you have come. (If you’re going to ask if we’ve missed screens, the answer is no and the secret is a good outdoor ceiling fan. Mosquitoes – and insects in general – hate flying in moving air.) Now, if we could finish those cold shots in Florida so we can relax here more, that would be great. Thanks k. (Yes, tolerance to cold has been greatly reduced since moving here – so much so that the 55 feels kinda cold.) Note: If you want to keep browsing construction projects and furniture upgrades, this archive is entirely for them. You can also see every update we’ve had to this house over the past 8.5 months at this location. * This post contains affiliate links * More posts from Young House Love