Porch swing cushions for Arkansas porches, cabins and lake houses

Fifty inches of rain, 26 tornadoes a year and an Ozark winter

An Arkansas porch swing has seen some weather. Little Rock averages 50.42 in (128 cm) of rain a year, and April is the wettest month at 5.59 in. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas names floods and severe thunderstorms as the main threats from March to May, counts an average of 26 tornadoes a year, and says most of them come in spring.

Summer is thick. Little Rock mornings average 84% humidity, with 75 days a year at 90°F (32°C) or above, and Fort Smith has 78. That's mildew weather for any cushion left damp.

Winter is real, and more so up high. Fort Smith averages 70 days at or below freezing and Little Rock 54. Harrison, on the Ozark Plateau, averages 34.9°F in January, and the Ozarks get more snow than any other part of the state. Major ice storms come every five to ten years.

So an Arkansas swing cushion has three jobs: shrug off a spring storm, dry out in August, and spend January somewhere dry.

Dogtrots, giraffe houses and bungalows with the swing already hung

Folks here have built porches since the log-cabin days. The Ozark dogtrot put two rooms under one roof with an open, floored hall between them, and later owners added porches. In the early 1900s, Ozark builders split native sandstone into slabs and set them in wide mortar joints, and many of those "giraffe houses" across northern Arkansas still have their original front porches.

In town, Little Rock's Hillcrest is mostly early-1900s Arts and Crafts and bungalow homes. Hot Springs' Quapaw-Prospect district mixes Craftsman and Colonial Revival houses with a particularly fine run of Queen Anne Victorians, porches and all.

Then the lakes. Beaver Lake has about 483 miles of shoreline and Greers Ferry more than 340, and the cabins along them live on the screened porch and the dock bench. Start with porch swing cushions, rocking chair cushions and, for the dock, outdoor cushions. The Tennessee and Kentucky page covers rocker templates in detail.

How long is your swing, neighbor? Get the tape out before you read the table below.

Cream, rust and river-stone gray on an Arkansas porch

The swing in our photo wears a cream-and-rust pinstripe on white-painted wood, hung on black chains, with a lantern and a fern beside it. That's an Arkansas porch in one picture. Cream and rust forgive summer dust, the pinstripe hides a little wear, and the white swing keeps both looking fresh.

On a giraffe house, pick up the sandstone with rust, terracotta or mustard. On a Hot Springs Victorian, the paint is already busy, so a solid seat with a stripe only on the back pillows keeps the peace. At the lake, river-stone gray, navy or olive hide wet paw prints between washes.

Kids and dogs are the real quality control on a lake-cabin porch. Choose outdoor fabric there even under a roof, and read indoor cushions on a covered porch before you set linen out. The tie placement guide shows where the ties go on a swing.