How to Make a Blanket Fort—Plus Ideas for Your Best Fort Ever

The art of building a blanket fort is pretty simple. First, gather supplies for your fort's walls and ceiling, cushions for the floor, and clips and string for securing your walls.

Blanket fort supplies:

• light blankets, spare sheets, beach towels, and tablecloths
• sofa cushions
• laundry clips, clothespins, binder clips, or chip clips
• string, wire, or yarn
• Dictionaries, phone books, or other heavy (non-breakable) items

Clothespins are perfect for hanging linens and attaching sheets together. (Binder clips and chip clips work just as well.) Turn to string, wire, or yarn for expanding your fortress, tying your fabric ceiling to knobs, pulls, doorknobs, and even hinges for extra support. Use books to secure fabric on tables, bookshelves, and other raised surfaces, so fort-dwellers can crawl underneath.

When planning your fort, examine the walls and ceilings: You want to start high. Hang light fabrics (sheets, ideally) to securely mounted light fixtures, high shelves, curtain rods, or floor lamps and connect them to other sheets with clips to build a raised ceiling. Secure the ends of your fabric under furniture legs to make your fort bigger.

If you want to take your blanket fort to the next level, read on for creative blanket fort ideas.

The true brilliance behind blanket forts is that one can pop up virtually anywhere—like under the kitchen table. A simple sheet draped over a table or desk of any size can create a natural nook for reading, drawing, or scheming. Scatter chairs around the room to make the fort larger.

Choose a room with the right furniture and architectural details—sofa, ottoman, built-in bookshelves, securely attached curtain rods—for supporting your fortress. Hang your largest blanket or sheet from the highest possible point in the corner of a room and attach the edges to high-up shelves or other fixtures; use the room's corner as two walls for your fort. Bring in pillows and stuffed toys to make the floor comfy enough for lounging.

Take over an entire room for a spacious, tent-like vibe. If there's space and you have a camping tent, consider pitching that tent in the center of the room. You can also build your own by hanging sheets across the ceiling and over the walls.

If you have clothesline, yarn, or another sturdy string or wire, use it to loft your blankets. Hang the cord high across the room and drape blankets and sheets over it, securing with clips if necessary. Weigh down the edges of the fabric as far from the string as it will reach for a wider blanket fort. If you have the space, you can also hang two parallel cords and drape blankets across both for a larger fort.

Take the clothesline blanket fort idea outside if you have the space and don't mind sheets and blankets getting a little dirty. (Picnic blankets and beach towels are good alternative.)