When the cold weather arrives, it’s a lot harder to make ourselves get outside. We prefer the cozy comfort of home, and while it’s great to enjoy a cozy night in, there’s no reason it can’t be active and fun! Whether you’re in a two-bedroom apartment in Edmonton or a townhouse in Calgary, whatever your age, everyone is welcome to join in! In fact, there’s even evidence it can be a really helpful thing for us.
So, without further ado, we present Mainstreet’s Ultimate Guide to Building the Best Blanket Forts in your Apartment!
There are two options to consider before you begin your blanket fort: are you going to go fully DIY fun, or are you going to go pro-level and order a kit to ensure the perfect result? Both are still very fun ways to create your fort, both are relatively easy to clean up after, it’s really about what you prefer!
DIY Method!
- Ensure You Have Sufficient Space and Supplies
It’s important to make sure you’re going to have enough room, not just to build your blanket fort but to occupy it as well. You want to have room to move, play, and bring some of your fav stuff into the fort. Move furniture around to accommodate the building of the fort, and remember that a laptop or tablet can solve any issues caused by not getting a good line of sight to the television. Make sure you have lots of blankets and sheets, including one to use as a floor so you’re comfy when you’re stretching out in there! And don’t forget pillows, those will turn your fort into an ancient palace court! - Best Practices
Gravity is every blanket fort’s greatest enemy, so make sure you’re using light materials like sheets for your fort’s roof, and heavier stuff like blankets to support it at the bottom. This also means that if half of your roof is a sheet, the other half will also have to be light material or it’ll pull the whole thing down! Remember to leave little openings for good ventilation, and don’t forget that heavier (but not too heavy) items like books make great building materials for holding things in place! - Fasteners and Supports
Whether you support the structure from inside by propping your roof up with a chair, or leave more room inside by tying a string to your roof sheet and then typing that to a hook on your ceiling or something similar, it’s important to make sure the whole thing doesn’t tumble before you want that to happen. Consider running a clothesline across the room! Once your supports are in place, fasten those sheets and blankets together with whatever you can find, from clips to clothespins to whatever works and is nearby! - Safety check
Adults should do a thorough walkaround and crawl-through to ensure the structure is safe and stable before the kids occupy it. This goes for grown-up forts, too!
Pro-Kit Method
- Start off by looking for the right fort kit for your home. We took a look on Amazon and found a few we loved: this one, thought this was great, and there are a lot more choices, just find the right one for you. Grown-up options are also available!
- Wait for delivery, then assemble!
OK, so the pro-kit method is definitely easier, but it’s probably not more fun! Once you have finally constructed your fabric fortress, all you need to do is move in and decorate!
Decorating ideas:
- String lights are a classic, make sure they’re indoor-safe and avoid candles of any kind!
- Lots of pillows are a must!
- Bring in a plant or two for some greenery
- Some magazines and books
- Your favourite electronic devices!
Activity ideas:
- Bring in some board games!
- Watch a movie
- Drawing and coloring
- Playing with toys and creating new playscapes
- Whatever you want!
Have you built a blanket fort recently, or has this blog inspired you to? We want to see! Send us photos of your blanket forts or of the coolest forts you’ve seen, we’d love to see!