Many of us have been staying closer to home recently so we decided to inspire you to have a camping experience by turning your own space into your very own backyard glamping campsite. With a few special touches and some imagination, you can turn your outdoor space into something great for your family that doesn’t require hours of packing or sitting in the back of a car. You’ll also get a great night’s sleep and plenty of space to use for different experiences, like a meditation zone, reading area or a place to get some quiet time away from the kids, so building this new outdoor zone will give you much more fun than just a few nights sleep.
Build A DIY Glamping Checklist
Before you start hunting for your hammers, nails, tents, sleeping bags and flashlights in the garage, make a list of everything you’ll need. It starts with shelter and a comfortable place to sleep, but you need to think of the small things too, like batteries and fairy lights. Check out our camping and glamping checklist to get a few DIY glamping ideas before you start.
Build Your Glamping Base
Many people don’t realise that most of the cold and dampness experienced while camping comes up from the ground, not just from the sky. If you want to make your new glamping area something you can use year-round then you will want to build a wooden platform. You can use your wooden glamping tent base as a seating, meditation or yoga zone when the tent isn’t on it so it will definitely get used and will look amazing in your garden when it is done.
For your first DIY backyard glamping experience you will need a canopy to protect you from the dew and cold air when you are sitting outside. You can build your base from all kinds of materials, including rugs and matting you might have in the garage.
If you can build an insulated wooden base yourself then you can probably put it together in an afternoon. If not, then we recommend you find local joiners to help. It’s an investment but if it means you will be warmer at night then you’ll get a lot more use from it over time.
The Best Backyard Glamping Is All About Lighting
Neon lighting is all the rage right now and adds a huge amount of glamour to your backyard glamping experience. Making sure you use solar-powered lighting to avoid having to be near an electricity outlet is helpful too. There are a lot of solar lighting products on the market to jazz up an old tent and make your backyard glamping zones even more enviable.
Build Your Campsite or Glampsite
Once you’ve figured out what to take on your backyard glamping adventure, it’s time to set up camp. If you have really young children joining you for your backyard adventure, make sure you get them fully involved too. The first time they put up a tent and sleep outside is something they’ll remember forever so don’t do it all for them. Ask them to help plan it and set it up. It will give them memories that will last a lifetime.
Homemade DIY glamping: Build A Fire
One of the most exciting parts of the camping experience is making a fire. There’s nothing quite like building a campfire with children, teaching them fire safety and then cooking food. It all adds to the experience and they will never forget it. In fact, we believe this makes the best homemade DIY glamping experience something they will remember into their adult years.
If you can, make a game out of it by encouraging your family to search for firewood, kindling and dry tinder. They can collect dry pine needles, tree bark and tiny twigs while using larger twigs and dry sticks for kindling.
To add even more of a sense of achievement, you can practice traditional friction-based fire-starting methods or use a flint and striker set. If you have an existing fire pit in your backyard, this part will require little preparation to set it up. For a more temporary solution, use a portable fire pit or chiminea. Just remember to put it in a safe place before you start and keep it away from the tent area to avoid a build-up of carbon monoxide.
Build A Campfire Menu
Even more exciting than fire building is eating camp food you’ve just cooked. There are some great campfire meals you can cook. S’mores and hot dogs are the easiest, but consider experimenting with foil and really wow your fellow glampers with some fire-grilled chicken breasts, vegetable skewers, and melted chocolate banana boats for dessert. You can also do easy campfire baked potatoes, picnics and enjoy the delights of out-of-a-tin banoffee pie. We’ve pulled together some of our favourite campfire recipes and impressive chai drinks to get you started.
Backyard Glamping Party
If you have a birthday or special event coming up, you might want to build a backyard glamping party for your friends. A homemade glamping party in the backyard has become an easy way to organise an event for children and adults that everyone talks about. With the tips we’ve shared here, it’s easy to understand how to throw a backyard glamping party and it’s quite simple to organise. We recommend you add more garden lights and decorations and enjoy getting creative with some backyard party tent ideas. You can also make glamorous party bags for your guests to take away and zone your glamping space. For example, make a campfire and food zone and music and dancing zone. This will make sure your backyard glamping party will be a night to remember.
Build An Unforgettable Experience
The best bit about having your own glamping site in the backyard is the fact you don’t have to remember absolutely everything before your start. You can build it and make it better over time while you are using it. The same thing will apply to your memories, which you will also build along the way, so make sure you take the time to do some activities like stargazing. Use these tips for a perfect backyard glamping experience for any time you need to stay closer to home.
You Might Accidentally Build A Glamping Business
There are many stories about those who have built a backyard glamping experience for their family and friends and over time, after enjoying it so much, they have evolved it to be a thriving glamping business. This is possible with the correct permissions in place and an approach that is on trend in the industry right now. You can find out more about the key to glamping business success with Sarah Riley’s Glamping Academy and who knows where your backyard glamping experience will take you.
