5 Reasons You Should Build a Fort in Your Living Room

When I was a kid, I used to build a fort any chance I got: A rainy day was always a good excuse, but growing up in temperate Northern California, it really was a year-round activity despite the constant 74-degree weather.

It wasn’t the same fort over and over again, either. Every indoor structure had a very specific purpose and story. Sometimes I built a sheet-covered restaurant, or a faux log cabin, or a fort inside a fort in a chaotic town where post-apocalyptic chaos was erupting outside.

Fast forward a few years (okay, decades), and I grew up to be an interior designer. I assemble real rooms now, but I do wish a client would pay me to build a giant blanket hideout in the middle of an apartment.

Building a fort seems like a silly thing to do, but there are actually good reasons to do it — and do it now! Here are five.

Why decorate a room at all? Creating a space, no matter how temporary, sets a scene and hones an environment, which is something we, as people, crave. I mean, who wants to live in a plain white box?

Making a fort isn’t really that different from moving your furniture around every now and again, which is something I highly recommend! Studies find that changes in your environment — taking vacations, working from a coffee shop, or switching up the knickknacks on your desk — actually prompt new energy and more creative thinking. I’m not aware of any studies centered around forts, but forts certainly change up your environment.

Forts are cozy, safe-space cocoons. They keep all the bad things out. As an adult, you can use a fort to hide from the weather, work, the news … everything!

Forts are also undeniably nostalgic; they trigger memories from years ago. Good memories! Forts are fun!

Building a retreat smack in the middle of your home is like taking a getaway without having to pack a suitcase. The best part? You can stay, er, leave it up as long as you want to.

So, now that we’ve convinced you, what should your fort look like? Everyone has different tastes (thank goodness!), so how you set your fort up is, you guessed it, entirely up to you! Taking a cue from my 6-year-old self and build a few different kinds of forts for different purposes.

Build one around your couch to watch TV in, or one around your dining table for a dinner party your guests will never forget — there’s really no wrong way to do it.

And just in case you’re not sure where to start, I’ve written down all the advice you’ll need for building your own fort. If you need me, though, I’ll be hiding under all the sheets I own.

When was the last time you built a fort?