Indoor Swing Chair for a Living Room: Where to Hang It

A swing in a back bedroom gets used when someone remembers it's there. A swing in the living room gets used all day, because that's where everyone already is. It's also the room with the most going on: a sofa, a coffee table, a TV, a ceiling fan, and people walking through on their way to the kitchen.

So the question isn't really whether a swing chair can go in a living room. It's where in the living room, and how to set it up so it fits the way the room is actually used. Here's how we'd work through it.

What Kind of Swing Chair Works Indoors

Two very different products get sold as indoor swing chairs. One is a rigid hanging chair, rattan or a padded frame, that keeps its shape whether anyone is in it or not. The other is a fabric cocoon swing, which hangs loose until you sit down and then wraps around you. We compare the two side by side in sensory swing or hanging chair.

Our swing is the cocoon kind. It's double-layer nylon, two-way stretch compression fabric, double stitched, about 55 in wide by 59 in long. In a living room that matters for one practical reason: it can be a chair when you want a chair. Sit up in it with your feet near the floor and read, or lie back, curl up, spin slowly, or pull the fabric closed and disappear for a while. When the room needs its floor back, it comes down and goes in a bag.

Start With What's Above the Ceiling

Before you pick the prettiest corner, find out what's behind the drywall there. The swing mounts into a wood joist or beam, or into suitable concrete. Never drywall alone. Drywall holds a light picture frame, not a person moving around in a swing, and every swing tear we've had reported traced back to a mount that wasn't in a joist.

A few things are specific to living rooms:

• Ceiling fans and light fixtures. The box a fan or light hangs from is made for that fixture, not for a swing. Mount into a joist at a different spot, and hang the swing far enough from the fan that a hand reaching up from the seat can't get near the blades.
• Exposed beams. A solid wood beam makes a good mount point, and it often puts the swing right where the room already has some visual weight.
• Concrete ceilings. Common in condos and some apartments. The box includes expansion bolts for exactly this.
• Recessed lights. Those cans sit between joists, so they're a decent clue about which way the joists run.

Joists are usually 16 or 24 in apart, center to center. Once a stud finder locates one, find its neighbor to confirm you're on a real joist and not a pipe or a wire.

Living room ceilings are often taller or more interesting than bedroom ones. The included hardware is built for 6 to 9 ft. If yours is higher, a second daisy chain from a climbing or hardware store brings the swing back down to a good height. If it's vaulted or sloped, sensory swing for tricky ceilings walks through the options.

Keep the Walkways Clear

A living room is also a hallway. There's usually a path from the front door to the kitchen, from the hall to the sofa, from the sofa to the TV. A swing hung in one of those paths will get bumped, walked into, and eventually moved.

Stand where you'd like to hang it and watch how people move through the room for a day. Then check the spot itself:

• Nothing within arm's reach at rest: floor lamps, shelf corners, the arm of the sofa.
• No TV, wall shelf, or framed art inside the swing's arc.
• No front door or closet door that opens into the space.
• The coffee table out of reach of a foot mid-spin.

The quickest test is to stand in the spot, stretch your arms out, and turn a slow circle. If you touch nothing, you're close. Then do it again at seated height, since a swing with someone in it sits lower and sways wider than an empty one. Ceiling height and space for a sensory swing has the full measuring checklist.

Corners usually win in a living room. Two walls take care of half the clearance question, and a corner is rarely on the way to anywhere.

Pick a Spot You Can See From Where You Usually Are

For kids, this is the living room's biggest advantage over a bedroom. Our swing is for ages 3 and up, with an adult supervising, and supervision is a lot easier when the swing is in plain view of where the adults already spend their time.

Before you drill, do a sight-line check. Stand at the kitchen counter. Sit in your usual spot on the sofa. Can you see the swing from both without getting up? If you can, a kid can be in the swing while dinner gets made and nobody has to hover.

Hang it low, close enough to the floor that a kid can climb in and out without help. A low swing is easier to watch, easier to get into, and keeps the fabric from dragging once someone is seated.

Making It Look Like It Belongs

A living room is the one room guests see, so the swing has to look like a choice, not like equipment someone forgot to put away.

Color does most of that work. Aspen Beige disappears into a neutral room. Soft Sage sits well next to plants, wood, and linen. Sweet Pink gives a plain room a bit of color. The ceiling hardware is a small stainless swivel, so above the fabric there isn't much to see.

A few things that help the spot feel finished:

• A round or soft rug underneath to mark it as its own little area and give bare feet somewhere soft.
• A floor pillow or two, and a basket for a blanket or a couple of books.
• Natural light. A corner near a window tends to be where people actually want to sit.

If the swing is meant as a quiet place to reset, turn it to face the window rather than the TV. A calm-down corner with a sensory swing goes further on setting up a space like that inside a busy room.

And when you'd rather have the floor back, for a party, for guests, for a vacuum, the swing unclips from the carabiner in seconds and packs into its drawstring bag at about 3.6 lb. The mount stays in the ceiling, ready for next time. How to store a sensory swing covers keeping it in good shape between uses.

Sharing It in a Shared Room

A living room swing won't belong to one person. Kids, siblings, and adults will all end up in it.

Our swing is rated for 200 lb in total, one rider or two, so two kids can share it as long as their combined weight stays under 200 lb. Plenty of adults use it too, to read, to unwind after work, or just because it's the best seat in the room. Sensory swing for adults is about exactly that.

The daisy chain strap is adjustable, so the hang height can change between riders. Clip the swing's strap loop to the carabiner at a lower loop for a small kid and a higher one for an adult, and screw the carabiner's gate shut each time.

Hanging It: The Short Version

Tools: a stud finder, a pencil, a drill with a 7/64 or 7/32 bit, a socket wrench, and safety glasses. Everything else is in the box: a 360-degree stainless swivel ceiling mount, a locking oval carabiner rated 17 kN, two lag screws for wood joists, two expansion bolts for concrete, the daisy chain strap, and the storage bag.

1. Find the joist, or a solid spot on concrete.
2. Hold the bracket up and mark the two bolt holes.
3. Pre-drill at the marks.
4. Drive the lag screws (wood) or expansion bolts (concrete) with the socket wrench.
5. Clip the carabiner to the swivel, then clip the swing's strap loop on at the height you want and screw the gate shut.
6. Pull down hard and put your full weight into the seat before anyone uses it.

After that first test, give the hardware and fabric a quick look before each use. The full step-by-step version is in how to hang a sensory swing.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much floor space does a living room swing need?

The fabric is about 55 in wide by 59 in long, and it moves, so plan for a clear circle around it rather than the size of the swing itself. The arm's-reach turn described above is a good working measure. A corner gives you the most room for the least floor.

Can I take it down when people come over?

Yes. Unclip the swing from the carabiner and it packs into its drawstring bag. The swivel mount stays in the ceiling, so putting it back up takes seconds.

Will it hold an adult?

Yes. It's rated for 200 lb in total, and the 59 in length gives an adult room to sit back or curl up.

What if I live in an apartment?

Many apartments have concrete ceilings, and the box includes expansion bolts for those. If you rent, check with your landlord before drilling. Sensory swing for renters covers how small the holes are and how to patch them when you move.

Which color works best in a living room?

Whichever matches the room you have. Aspen Beige for neutral rooms, Soft Sage for rooms with plants and wood, Sweet Pink when the room could use some color. The swing is the same in all three.

If the living room is where your family actually spends its time, our sensory swing is $84.99 in Aspen Beige, Soft Sage, or Sweet Pink, with the ceiling hardware in the box and free US shipping. Find the joist first, then pick your corner.