Sometimes it’s nice to celebrate the biggest. Sometimes it’s nice to celebrate the most. And, if you can celebrate both, you’ve got the makings of a really good party.

We recently shipped our largest CedarWorks swing set ever – and given some of the swing sets we have sent out in the past, this was no small feat. Made up of seven play structures connected by bridges, arches ramps and the such, the parts for this set filled 180 boxes and nearly three-quarters of an 18-wheeler. The hardware alone weighed more than 100 pounds – not including the heavy duty swing hangers. read more »

If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, consider us very flattered. We recently received an email from Dale Smith of Indy, Indiana (“a corn field with a race track in the middle” according to Dale) in which he describes an unusual project he had just completed. It seems that the assistant minister of his church needed some way for his son to access the loft area of his bedroom, and asked Dale whether he could help.

As Dale then describes, “I found your company on line, and requested a catalog.  When it arrived I was thrilled to see all the wonderful units you offer.  I am a bit artsy, so many of your units inspired my thinking.” Dale continued “I always liked the rascal ramp you use, so I drew up drawings of MY ideas and here is the end result.”

And quite an end result it is: beautiful, functional, and fun – just like what we want everything to be here at CedarWorks. According to Dale, the lucky boy who gets to use this every day and all his friends just love it. And that’s also just what we we want from anyone who uses a CedarWorks swing set.

So, thanks Dale – I hope that our products can continue to inspire you.

It was not too long ago that I announced that CedarWorks was expecting a new arrival (see We’re Expecting). I am glad to say that much progress has been made since that announcement, and our late summer launch is still on target.

But this post is not about our babies. Nor is it about the now fully grown babies of our veteran Design Partner Dee Boehmer. Her three kids are all grown up and out on their own. No, this post is about the beautiful, young, delicious babies found in Dee’s greenhouse at this time of year. read more »

When it comes to Cedar, a heck of a lot. Most people have strong associations with the word, conjuring up images of roof shingles, house siding, fence posts, and other traditional applications of this naturally rot-resistant species.  Or they imagine the wonderful scent from a cedar closet, chest, or sachet. Either way, Cedar is a really good thing.

So, if you were to learn that a swing set was made from 100% Cedar, you’d have a good feeling about it, right? But how would you feel about a swing set made from 100% China Fir? Or 100% Chinese Cedar? Not the same is my guess. And, clearly, that is the assumption made by many swing set marketers these days, because almost every swing set made of “Cedar” sold in big box stores is not actually made of Cedar. read more »

… and aqua, and chartreuse, and red. And natural wood. And, there you have it, our new product line name: Rhapsody.

This name was selected from a list of nearly 100 suggestions we received from you over the past few weeks. Each member of our creative team here at CedarWorks reviewed the list and chose their five favorite names. Rhapsody was on everyone’s list, so it became our tentative first choice.

We then set about doing a bit of research. The first dictionary definition we found was not at all what we expected: “An epic poem suitable for recitation”. Huh? read more »

My oh my, our kids all grow up fast, don’t they? As true as that might be, we found this past year that they grow at a relative turtle’s pace compared with dogs. Our ten-week-old puppy arrived last Spring weighing in just shy of 20 lbs. and standing barely higher than a pair of kids rain boots. A year later, our puppy’s nose reaches above the counters, and he has more than tripled in weight. We thought that was impressive growth until we received the following email from a member of the CedarWorks’ family:

We brought Piper home a year ago weighing 45lbs.  My then 10 year old daughter encouraged her to climb the Sure Step System so that she could hang out in the top of our Jungle playset.  Now, Piper weighs 130lbs and can still squeeze herself between the steps to get up to her favorite hangout.  From there, she can see over the privacy fence and scope out the neighborhood.

When she’s done patrolling, she simply slides down the slide.  You’re not surprised, are you?

Thanks for a wonderful product. We bought it 10 years ago, moved it from Iowa to Wisconsin in a moving van 4 years ago and it’s still played with every time the girls go outside.

Angela from Wisconsin

Thanks for sharing, Angela! And thanks for the accelerated testing results on the ongoing suitability of a CedarWorks swing set as your kids grow. We’re sure glad that all of your “kids” continue to enjoy the playset!

If anyone else out there has a fun story about their CedarWorks swingset and their pets (or their kids!) please send it along to: info@cedarworks.com.

If you’ve checked out our blog recently, you know that we are thick in the middle of creating a whole new line of playsets for indoor use. And, you know that we were asking for help on finding a name for this new product line. Given the great suggestions that have been pouring in, I wanted to share our progress with you along with a couple of new teaser photos of our newest prototypes. read more »

A while back, I shared some of our favorite animal stories and pictures from around our offices here on the beautiful coast of Maine. But this fantastic photo of an owl enjoying a splinter-free perch on one of our swing sets reminded me of some of the other great customer stories involving animals over the years.

There was a nice family from New York who insisted on a Rascal Ramp for their playset. Not for the kids, but for the dog. Then, a couple from Connecticut took catering to their dog a huge step further and designed an entire playset for the sole purpose of exercising and entertaining their agility trials award-winning pooch.

Other families have found their swing set play time on temporary hiatus due to Mother Nature’s intervention. We have had many stories and photos of birds nests and eggs and baby birds all enjoying the chemical-free shelter of a CedarWorks swing set.

And then there was the family who went to great lengths to make sure that their swing set play time would not be interrupted. This story came to us all the way from Alaska accompanied by a photo of a playset in the wilderness surrounded by one of the highest fences we had ever seen. Turns out that bears like to play, too, and these parents decided that it made little sense to purchase the safest swing set on the market but then fail to bear-proof the play area.

Do any of you CedarWorks families out there have a good animal photo or two that involves your swing set? If so, we’d love to see them. Just send them along to info@cedarworks.com.

Our due date is not until the end of Summer, but we are just bursting with pride and can’t wait to share the good news.  Our new line of indoor playsets has been developing and growing in all the right ways for many months now. From ladders to climbing walls to playful nooks, all the parts appear to be in the all right places. And like all proud parents, we even have in-process photos to share.

What we don’t have is a name. Can you help? We are looking for that perfect word to complement our Revelry and Serendipity product line names.

So, learn all that you can about CedarWorks, then imagine what it would be like to have one of our new indoor play sets in your home. If the perfect word to describe all this comes to you, please let us know. And, if we pick the name you suggest, we will give you a gift certificate worth $500 towards any CedarWorks play set, indoors or out.

Please hurry. The big day is approaching fast, and we would like a name for our indoor playsets by the end of March. Send your suggestions to:  info@cedarworks.com

Because we don’t have artificially inflated retail prices to create the illusion of a discount. And because we believe in honesty and fairness in pricing. It’s that simple.

When you purchase most items, like gasoline or even an oriental rug, you have a pretty good idea what to expect. The price you see for the gas is the price you will pay. The price you see for the oriental rug is massively inflated and you will get a 40%-60% “discount”. You have some basic knowledge about pricing and discounts for nearly everything you buy. read more »