Do you want to create a cozy reading nook where you can lounge with your kids?
Are you hoping to hibernate on a winter weekend?
Planning a creative and playful date night?
Hosting a movie marathon with your friends?
Just wondering what your room would look like if you wallpapered it with blankets?
Time to build a pillow fort!
It’s a skill honed in childhood and often forgotten by adulthood. So how to get back in the swing of fort building? First off, if you’re serious about it, you’ll need to do your research. Scour the internet for design inspiration: these Buzzfeed articles are full of aesthetic and pragmatic ideas, whether you’re looking for coziness, romance, innovation, escape, or holiday cheer.
Once you’re inspired, take stock of what supplies you have. Pillows and blankets are the top essentials, and you’ll want a nice variety: plush pillows for ultimate comfort inside the fort, firmer memory foam pillows for structural support, throw pillows for decoration, enormous and versatile body pillows. As for blankets, thick wool blankets and quilts will keep you warm, but lighter sheets are often better for creating the roof and walls, since they’re less likely to collapse. And some extra equipment never hurt:
- Couches and chairs: You can make comfy furniture part of your design by draping blankets up and over them, using them as sturdy walls, or simply scavenging the couch cushions for extra padding.
- Tent poles: One of the best and easiest ways to prop up blankets, though in a pinch, other items will do. Brooms, umbrellas, furniture—get creative!
- Sleeping bags: perfect for staying warm, especially if you’re planning to sleep over in your fort.
- Christmas lights: The classic pillow fort decoration! This 3D-printed moon lamp or a Himalayan pink salt lamp would also create wonderful atmosphere.
- Safety pins, hair ties or rubber bands, rope or string: There’s an infinite number of ways to secure your blankets, and these simple supplies will definitely help.
- Books, movies, crossword puzzles, and games: stay entertained all day in your pillow fort. There’s no better place to catch up on a podcast, have a movie marathon, or fill in a colouring book.
Some final things to think about:
Temperature is important! You’ll want to be snug and warm, but there’s such a thing as too much.
A well-ventilated fort will allow airflow and keep things from getting overheated and stale, so think about making multiple entrances, incorporating windows, or periodically raising one of your blanket walls a little to let in the fresh air.
By the same token, you don’t want to get too cold, which is a risk if you’re sitting on the floor. Put down plenty of padding (several blankets or a yoga mat, for example) to provide insulation. If your couch is a part of the fort, it can also keep you elevated and off the cold floors.
Structure and function are also paramount: consider yourself the head architect of your fortress.
How easily do you want to be able to enter and exit your fort? How sturdy is it? Will it withstand an attack from a rambunctious puppy or enemy assailants from a rival fort? Are you able to stand up inside, or is it meant more for lounging? Is there enough space for everyone who will be using it, whether that’s just you or three dozen friends?
Whatever you decide, it’s all good! That’s the great thing about pillow forts: the only limit is your imagination (and possibly also the number of pillows you happen to own).