Summer is the perfect season to enjoy the outdoors and camp out with the family. Bring the joy of a real camping experience into your home anytime of the year by creating your own indoor camping wonderland.
Hannah Hathaway of We Lived Happily Ever After shares some indoor camping décor ideas by using her Balsam Hill artificial Christmas trees and décor. And when you’ve finally set up that magical space, Nicole Digiacobbe of TheDigiGirls shares her favorite indoor camping activities to make it as fun as the real thing.
Indoor Camping Decorations that You’ll Need
- An artificial Christmas tree, or a set of tabletop Christmas trees and potted plants in varying heights
- A tent or teepee
- A sleeping bag or mat
- Blankets and pillows
- LED Candles
- Lanterns
- Christmas tree light strings
How to Decorate for Indoor Camping
1. Choose a Safe and Cozy Space
Pick a spot inside your home where you can easily set up artificial Christmas trees and a tent without getting in the way. The area should be comfortable and conducive for playtime and activities, such as this reading nook that Hannah created for her children.
2. Create a Visual Separation
Make your indoor campsite feel like a separate space from the rest of your home. You can use a carpet or a mat to define the area, and surround it with some artificial Christmas trees, accent trees, topiaries, or indoor plants. For her reading nook, Hannah chose a pair of Balsam Hill’s White Berry Spruce Lanterns in different sizes to draw the eye toward the enchanting entrance. Then, she used Balsam Hill’s Frosted Alpine Balsam Fir Trees to recreate the feeling of being outdoors. Since she has these trees in varying heights, she placed them in different areas for contrast.
Pro Decorating Tip:
When styling a narrow space like this reading nook, you need to create several anchor points to draw the eye. The first main visual element is the lanterns. They add a magical glow to the painted secret entrance of the wardrobe.
Hannah Hathaway
3. Pitch a Tent
There’s no better way to make it feel like a real camping trip than setting up a real tent or teepee. If you don’t have one, you can easily set up a fort using a blanket and hold it up with chairs or a solid frame for structure.
Pro Decorating Tip:
Once the door is open, your eye will be drawn to the tent. Surround it with woodsy elements like a pile of firewood stacked next to a small fir tree. Set a larger tree behind the tent as another visual anchor. The different heights and placements of the trees create a balanced feel to the whole room.
Hannah Hathaway
4. Bring in Your Soft Furnishings
Set up your sleeping bag, pillows, and blankets inside the tent. Arrange comfy cushions and blankets on the floor around the tent to create an inviting space for lounge and play.
5. Transform the Space with Themed Accents
Make the indoor camping space truly enjoyable for the kids by choosing a theme that will spark their imagination. Be as creative as you can be. Hannah chose a Narnia-inspired theme for her kids’ playroom and reading nook. Dreamy paintings, vintage books, a whimsical creature, and fairy lights make this room a magical adventure on its own.
Featured: (Left) Balsam Hill Miracle Flame LED Rechargeable Votives
6. Create a Cozy Ambience with Warm Lights
Featured: (Left) Balsam Hill White Berry Spruce Lanterns; (Right) Balsam Hill Frosted Alpine Balsam Fir Christmas Trees and Balsam Hill Miracle Flame LED Rechargeable Votives
Recreate the experience of camping under the stars using twinkly light strings, LED candles, and lanterns. Hannah decorated her ceiling with strings of fairy lights to resemble a starlit night. You can also place the light strings in and around your tent or drape them on the walls. Then, she lit up the artificial Christmas trees and placed flameless LED votives on top of the books to bring her campsite to life.
Featured: (Left) Balsam Hill Frosted Alpine Balsam Fir Christmas Tree and Balsam Hill Miracle Flame LED Rechargeable Votives; (Right) Balsam Hill White Berry Spruce Lanterns
Pro Decorating Tip:
Because this is a reading nook, we have stacks of books throughout the space with the candle votives on top. Candles add a cozy warmth to the space that mimics the glow of fireflies and campfires.
Hannah Hathaway
Ideas for Indoor Camping Activities
Now that you’ve put up your camping decorations and built your own wonderland, it’s time to think of things your family can do together. Nicole shares some simple yet fun ideas to perk up the kids’ imagination and give them a magical time.
1. Create a Campfire
Make the indoor camping experience more fun by creating your own kid-safe campfire. Repurpose paper towel cardboard tubes or roll some brown paper bags to look like logs. Arrange them as you would a real campfire and place battery-operated LED candles at the center, or wrap Christmas light strings around them.
2. Get Into the Camping Spirit with Books and Movies
Featured: Balsam Hill 7.5’ Classic Blue Spruce and AirFort Tent
Get everyone inside the tent and read the kids’ favorite stories in true camping style—with a flashlight or a lantern. Set up a mini movie theater and cuddle together as you watch camping-themed movies. This will help set the mood and get everyone to imagine themselves being outdoors.
3. Prepare Fun Food
Serve snacks and treats your kids love. What’s a camping trip without s’mores and hotdogs? Whip up a batch of these yummy treats ahead of time in the kitchen. Serve them with skewers and pretend to roast them on the campfire.
4. Play Camping Games
Dim the lights and make your camp-in more memorable with fun games and storytelling around the campfire. Kids will love an exciting scavenger hunt, complete with a map, clues, and of course, hidden treasure. Bigger kids may enjoy charades, card games, Pictionary, or bingo.
Creating an indoor camping adventure is just a matter of setting the scene. With the right location, décor, food, and activities, you can build a fun space that you and your kids would love to keep coming back to.
We hope this post inspired you to create your own wonderland at home. Visit Balsam Hill for artificial Christmas trees and premium holiday decorations that you can use to create charming spaces all year round.
Want some summer Christmas tree decorating ideas to create with kids? Check out the articles below.
Comments
All these ideas are fantastic and I will definitely try when my grandsons sleep over!
Great suggestions for any parent or grandparent
Super suggestions!
Great
Cute Suggestions!!!
Great Ideas!
Great Ideas! Thanks for the ideas. !
Magical! Thank you!
Thank you for the wonderful Ideas- I Love them
AWESOME
I have two Balsam Hill Christmas Trees. Would love to have one in every room of my home
What an exciting adventure for kids, grandkids and the young at heart. These memories will last a lifetime! The Christmas trees, twinkle lights, lanterns and candles added just the right element of outdoors sans inclement weather and mosquitoes.
Thank you for the wonderful ideas!
Your ideas are very inspirational!
Such great ideas!
Love the camping ideas!
Stunning pieces as always and the best quality!!