Decorating (while camping)

Decorations can make your tent and kitchen shade more comfortable physically and visually. These tips will work for encampments of any level of period accuracy. 

Flooring:

Carpets are the answer.

In the sleeping tent, a carpet layer will offer softness, cushion, and warmth beneath your feet. Some who have the cargo space use actual tuffed carpets. “Real” carpets will tend to be thicker and therefore better at providing the benefits of carpeting. However, a thick upholstery fabric packs well, while also being washable.

In the kitchen or dining room, a carpet layer will keep the mud down and hide the dried up grass. It will expand the usable space available (yay for floor sitters!), and generally be more comfortable. Visually, it demarcates the space, better than any wall can, and really brings the “inside” feeling. Without carpets, a kitchen/dinning space feels sparse and (if you’ll forgive me) like you’re camping. You’ll want some sort of “outdoor” carpet for this task, meant for beach or patio. These sorts of carpeting will pack well and wash well, and can handle the dampness of the ground.

 Walls:

While there’s not a lot to do to decorate the walls in your tent, especially if it’s a “dome home” and has curved or slanted walls. If your tent lends itself to division, hanging a curtain to separate areas of the tent. Curtains inside a tent can help when it’s cold by maintaining your body heat in a smaller area. Dividing the space can concentrate your efforts on one area that you will see in your tent, as in you won’t be seeing your sleeping area as much as your dressing area.

In your dining tent, a wall can add shade and privacy, while also adding a medieval atmosphere. The standard 10x10 popup day shade seen at farmers’ markets everywhere is lightweight and compact to take to events. It’s easy to put up and ugly as sin. There are walls that can be purchased, but for our purposes, any fabric would be an improvement. Old flat sheets, cheap shears, or printed “tapestries” can be used. If you want to go a little farther, a painted canvas (or even any painted cotton) elevates the look of your nylon and aluminum pop up. Walls of any kind, but especially painted ones can transform a space from what feels like a Noble on campaign to one on holiday.

Furniture:

Focus on having wooden furniture. It often packs smaller than it’s modern counterparts.

When wood isn’t an option, or you just really can’t accommodate the planks of wood in your vehicle, and only a roll top table will do, think cloth covers. Some make custom cloth cozies for their coolers. Others just put a table cloth over their metal tables. Cloth covers a multitude of sins.

Storage:

Most of us pack in plastic tubs. They are excellent for keeping humidity, bugs and animals out. And they lie around looking awful and getting in the way. You can hide one or two under your table (that has a cloth), keeping them out from underfoot, and out of direct sight. Sill there always seems to be more. Consider: Shelves. There are a number of folding, collapsable shelves available that can help give those totes somewhere to live. Tidying up those tubs gives you more room to move in your tight space, and consolidates the modernity to one spot. Doing this can also make it easier to cover these things, adding to the medieval atmosphere.

Bench boxes are another great solution. For anything that doesn’t need to be sealed away, a bench box provides storage and seating, in a truly medieval way. They are easy to make with a minimal amount of tools, there are even plans out there to make them collapsible.

Lighting:

Lighting is a conundrum. It’s not as easy as “just light a candle”. Candles can be a hazard that some are not willing to risk. There are plenty of electric candles these days – just be careful of the ones made from real wax inside your nylon tent in 30+ degree weather. Another option is an oil lamp. A lamp burning olive oil, with a reservoir of water can burn all night, and self-extinguishes should it be knocked over.

Consider many lamps, whatever your solution. Placing them along paths, and to mark hazards, as well as on your tables and shelves and around your tent(s) will lend a glow that can be truly magical.

In the end, your decorations should make you feel comfortable and bring you joy. A perfectly period trestle table, chairs, dishes and lamps can still feel like camping in a field, while a modern structure, with the right wall hangings and carpets can feel like the medieval room of your dreams.