A More Comfortable Porch Swing Seat

Porch Daydreamer
by Porch Daydreamer
5 Materials
$50
2 Hours
Easy

Give your standard porch or patio swing the look of a daybed or just make it more comfortable by doing this easy DIY!


For more tips and inspiration follow the link to my website at the end of this article!

This is what my swing seat looked like before upholstering it and you can tell it's a standard swing.

Completed Upholstered Swing

A much more comfortable porch swing seat that has been upholstered with a little foam and sunbrella fabric!

Step 1: Cut the foam with scissors to the right width. My swing is a standard size (purchased at Lowe’s) the seat is 18 in. x 48 in.


I left the foam as it arrived at 24 in. and cut it down from 72 in. to 48 in. 

Step 2: Check to make sure the foam is the size you want. You do want some over hang so it wraps around the front of the swing seat.

Step 3: Staple the foam to the swing seat. This will hold it in place while you place the fabric.


Push HARD to reach the wood through the foam. Staple 3 to 4 times on the front of the swing seat and just under the swing back.

Stapling the foam

Caution: Push down really hard so the staple makes it into the wood of the swing.

Step 4: Measure and cut the fabric. Make sure you have enough to wrap around the foam. 


I left 16 in. all the way around for wrapping.

2 Individual Strips of Fabric

Step 5: There isn’t a way, without disassembling your swing, to upholster between the arm and the back.


Fix this problem by taking some of the leftover fabric, fold it into a 1 in. wide strip to attach in that space. 


You will need two strips.

Step 6: Attach strips of fabric. Staple into the foam and underneath the swing. I cut the extra fabric away underneath and on the foam.


Then pushed it down into the hole where the staple is.

Here is the fabric strip wrapped and stappled underneath.

Step 7: Wrap the fabric and staple the front and back. Pull the fabric taught and staple UNDERNEATH the seat.


You can see the sun is starting to set, so this took about 2 hours start to finish!

Step 8: Fold the raw edge of the fabric under before stapling around the back and the arms. Staple underneath.


You can see it won't be perfect and that's OK!

Swing fabric on the back tucked around the arm and back. Not perfect - no big deal.

Step 9: Iron the fabric on the seat swing. Add some decorative pillows and enjoy!

COMPLETE! I've brushed and hosed off the Sunbrella fabric with water on a regular basis and it still looks this good.

Resources for this project:
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Porch Daydreamer
Want more details about this and other DIY projects? Check out my blog post!
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3 of 8 questions
  • Sandy Sandy on Jun 22, 2019

    Great swing. I love your dog!

  • Mary Distel Mary Distel on Mar 22, 2020

    Love this but my swing is a metal one. How can I adapt this to cover my swing? I keep it on an enclosed porch.

  • Johanne Palange Johanne Palange on Apr 28, 2020

    Your pooch seems 100% pleased with it. Why sit on flat boards when you can cushion your tushie. Looks good.

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