Dream Forts with Lydia DuVonn

With winter break quickly approaching there's going to be more time for you to spend with friends, to read or even time devoted to defending your backyard from neighboring invaders. And what better way to enjoy chilling out with friends or needing a secret lair than creating your own private space. That's why we invited fort design expert, Lydia DuVonn, to SuperWeenee headquarters to show us how to build your dream fort in your own living room or backyard.

From celebrities to billionaires, Lydia is renowned for designing and building dream pillow, sheet and cardboard forts. Her designs have won awards and been featured in numerous home and garden publications. So gather up your pillows and cardboard boxes and learn how you too can create a dream space for yourself.

Lydia DuVonn at work

Pillow Fort

Structural integrity is key to building any pillowfort, says Lydia. Make certain you start with a good foundation of walls.

Start with a good foundation

As you can see what I did for this client was start with a layer of pillows sturdy enough to balance the weight of additional pillows. This allowed for ample protection against a barrage of foam darts and even helped balance their weapons.

Battle ready!

Once you have the basic frame, now you can start thinking about the ground floor. Adding a layer of pillows in your fort can add a cozy element. But if you are in a battle of living room wars with your siblings or cousins, then maybe a blanket might be a better choice. As you can see below, I added a blanket to provide a little comfort in this fort. (Design hint: add some snacks in your fort to hold out longer against your opponents).

Snacks and extra supplies for battle

I thought that this fort needed a little more to handle the client's needs. That's why I added grandma's afghan as another element in this particular pillow fort design. I think the camouflage-like afghan is perfect in this space. It gave the client a little more protection from the large number of foam darts.

A roof for the pillow fort

Now you are ready for a private reading nook or even a shelter to protect yourself from a frenzied barrage from your brother's Nerf guns.

Sheet Fort

One of my favorite designs to play with is the sheet fort. Though they can be designed for indoor or outdoor use, I especially like designing sheet forts for outdoor fun and adventure. Most of my clients love to gather with friends under a protective canopy fort; makes a space feel more private.

Privacy in the shade

Now the key to a sturdy sheet fort is investing in the best binder clips. Binder clips are key to a good sheet fort. Just map out the space you want to create with your sheet, then clip it in place. Voila! Now you have a meeting space for friends. Add special touches to your sheet fort with tea cups and plates for a tea party, or, if in case of an apocalypse, for use as a military post for a zombie invasion. The ideas are endless!

As you see with this fort, the client wanted a base for her friends to help keep their gatherings private. They stocked up on water balloons and water guns in case the boys from the next block showed up.

Cardboard Fort

For some of my more discerning clients, a fort must have more practical uses. Maybe you need a more isolated location to protect yourself from bullies or for a spy headquarters. When designing a cardboard fort I look for the most sturdiest boxes that come from a parents latest Amazon delivery. Next, I find some good duct tape and begin construction.

It's important to make sure the interior will be big enough for the desired purpose of the fort. As you see in this cardboard fort, my client on this project had some real beef going on with the toys from their neighbor's kid.

I added a special lookout tube to the top of the fort. It can detect trespassers within ten feet! The door to the fort opens only with a special password the fort owner can give to their most loyal friends and minions.

We did not stop there. My client also had a security need for his fort, so I knocked out space for lookout windows as you see below.

Protecting the eastern quadrant

The windows here also had to be spacious enough to allow room for weapons. The yard was crawling with enemy toys.

Doll waiting to ambush

But if you want a more laidback cardboard fort just to have a clubhouse for your teddy bears, consider cutting out holes on the side of the box and maybe add a baby pool in the backyard. Now you're all set for a fun teddy bear picnic, or to go to water balloon war with your neighborhood enemies.

I hope you found these informative ideas and gets you started on building your own fort. Enjoy your winter break, SuperWeenees, and don't forget to take some time and read, especially if it's a book from our own library in your preferred fort style. See ya!