Several years ago, we created a space under our back deck that has become my favorite place to spend time! Being a Southerner my whole life, I’m not sure why I waited so long to own a porch swing. It’s not just a past time here in the South, but rather a way of life. Like sweet tea, fried chicken, and pimento cheese are Southern staples, so is the Porch Swing. My parents had one on our porch growing up, as well as almost every Southern relative and friend we knew. Good conversations happen on porch swings…
Let me back up to say that our Weimaraners had passed away a few years ago, and our sons were going to college, so I thought I needed something else to take care of and got a German Shorthaired puppy named Hank. A year later he needed a friend so we got Daisy, a GSP/Spaniel mix. We thought we knew hunting dogs since we’d had Weimaraners, but turns out GSPs are one of THE highest energy breeds!
We have a large backyard, so we had a fence built, which has been the best thing ever for those dogs! Lots of room to run and explore. Being in the backyard with the dogs meant we needed a space to sit while they were outside, and under our porch seemed to be an ideal spot. We had a concrete pad poured outside our basement when we built our house almost 17 years ago, but it was very basic and this wasn’t a space we utilized since we already have a nice areas on our wraparound porch and back deck where we spent most of our time outdoors.
I thought this under-deck area would be the perfect spot for a porch swing, so I shopped around and finally decided on the Belham Living Cottonwood Deep Seating 64” bed swing from Hayneedle. I added BH & G outdoor pillows to make it more comfortable, and placed a few Adirondack chairs across from the swing. We also added some globe string lights for ambiance.
This was our previous back porch seating area with the bench, Adirondack chairs, and outdoor rug (rug from Walmart). I found a great aluminum patio table and chairs on Facebook Marketplace for a steal, so I moved things around to accommodate those pieces! The large table & chairs needed a bigger rug, (see the domino effect here?) so I moved the smaller rug under the porch to the new swing area. (Large outdoor basketweave rug from Target) The swing became popular with all of us, and was everyone’s first choice, so it became obvious-we needed another porch swing! This Belham Living swing bed is pretty popular and was backordered for a month or two when I went to order another, but it finally arrived and I was able to find more BH & G outdoor pillows in the same pattern. I also planted an Endless Summer hydrangea and hung some ferns in the space since I knew we’d be spending lots of time and wanted pretty plants surrounding the area. Here are our sweet pups- Hank on the left & Daisy on the right. It’s crazy how much they look alike at first glance, but we got Hank first and a year later found Daisy on a rescue site online in Alabama. It was destiny! We had existing hostas and gardenias under the deck we planted many years ago. The smell is intoxicating when they’re in full bloom, which is even nicer now that we have a space to sit and enjoy their scent. We already had large wood chips in the area to mulch plants and minimize erosion from rain runoff, but the dogs kept eating them and it was a mess every time they ran through them, so we replaced with pea pebbles. Now, instead of them eating the wood chips, they just kick hundreds of tiny pea pebbles around the rug and under the swings when they run through. 😅 I’ll take pea pebbles any day though! It’s so much neater when it rains and no muddy mess. We don’t have an Underdeck System at this time. I would love to have that done at some point, but we are still able to enjoy this space most of the year. I just bring the cushions in on rainy days & nights. An Underdeck System with a ceiling would be great though, and we might look into that in the future. If you read my posts on Highlands & Cashiers recently, you saw the beautiful pair of antique dog statutes I shared. I found some on our way home in Franklin, North Carolina at Bateman’s Produce & Apple House! I was so happy to finally find a pair. They are in memory of our precious Weims that we miss so much, Blue and Sadie. 💗 Although we already had outdoor spaces we could enjoy, creating this one under the deck with double swings is by far the best and our favorite. We love to read, chat, have a glass of wine, nap, and just relax in this space with our dogs. Hanging two porch swings in conversational style is every bit as good as I imagined it would be. If you’re looking to create a new outdoor space, consider the double swing concept! It’s every bit as perfect as it sounds. Hope y’all are having a great Summer! School starts back here Thursday…..WOW.
Sheila says
July 31, 2019 at 6:21 pmLoved the post!
mimirobins says
August 17, 2019 at 3:46 pmThank you, Sheila! I appreciate you! Hope y’all have had a good Summer. 💗