Where do you buy your camping gear to make your Bell Tent look Utterly Fabulous ?

[lemonbonbons]

Hi all,

After 'lurking' on quite a few bell tent threads recently - I ve decided I will have to have one next year. I'm dreaming of a chilled morrocan style set up !!

BUT we will do a few more camps in out 'non' bell tent this year- and a few things have broken and need replacing this year. Now I ve made my mind up that I want the bell- I now don't want just the usual 'camping gear' (I always just go to Go outdoors / argos ! LOL! ) I want lovely glamping gear that will look the part with the bell !!! ( oh but I don't have lots of ££££££ - typically)

So where do you all get great looking camping stuff from ? i'm dreaming of a chilled out haven without any Hi Gear logos in sight. I m looking to replace chairs (would deck chairs look good ?/), and need a double bed of some description at the mo- and need more storage !!!

Any good online shops ?

Thank You in Advance x

Glamping a tent - my favourite subject even though i can't really do it as we don't have the space in the car .

A good site for glamping stuff all in one place is www.theglamcampingshop.com but it isn't cheap although the stuff it sells seems to be the same price as anywhere else. Or there is the infamous Pedlars but that is quite pricey.

The online bell tent sellers also do some glamping accessories which are worth a look.

Personally, though, I think half the fun is just building the stuff up gradually from different sources so a few people got a very good deal on brightly coloured melamine cups and bowls recently which would have been way more in Pedlars or similar.

Otherwise, Cath Kidston are Emma Bridgewater good sources of fancy plates/picnicware etc.

For the basics, chairs etc, what you choose is likely to depend on the packing space you have. We stick to camping chairs and airbeds/SIMs rather than deckchairs and stripy organic mattresses for space reasons mainly. You can glamp them up by choosing Cath Kidston camping chairs maybe and using duvets and throws rather than sleeping bags.

Ebay also a good source of glamping stuff.

Happy glamping!

We went retro instead. We got an old French frame tent, which is like a bell in terms of canvas but prettier and square and just used loads of old patchwork and knitted blankets from home. Doesn't matter about the beds underneath - we've a blow up double and some singles, but you can't see them if you drape stuff all over the place. Old rag rugs are good too.

It looks glamorous without being pretentious. Everyone loved it.

Like oranges, we have built up our stuff gradually, but when buying decorative stuff that's tent-related I tend to have a union jack/hearts theme going on, which began when I nicked the union flag rug out of DD's room to put on the floor of the tent the first time we went away, in an attempt to stop our feet from freezing! So every time I see a nice Union flag cushion that's not the trad red white and blue and doesn't cost a fortune I pick one up... so far have got them from Matalan, TK Maxx, Wilkos and Aldi, of all places! We have moon chairs inside the tent and the cushions dress them up nicely.

On that theme I was given an Emma Bridgewater Union Jack design biscuit tin as a camping prezzie and that led me to ebay where I found I also liked her hearts design, so our crockery is in that pattern. Got a doormat made of 3 hearts linked in TK Maxx in their reduced pile for a song. I have an old tablecloth embroidered by my grandmother as a cover for the camping cupboard, but similar things are on ebay all the time.

Also, I live in a part of London that has a huge Indian/Pakistani community and have bought a fair bit of stuff from the many little shops locally selling throws, rugs and other stuff - the throws look great thrown over the beds and provide an extra layer of warmth at night. I've also found some great bargains from these places in terms of collapsible/folding storage and dinky wooden boxes.

I bought my bunting from here in the sale - some patchwork union jacks for inside and some pink triangles spelling out Home Sweet Home for the front of the tent. Butlers in Islington has some gorgeous stuff too, but I wait for it to go on offer, as it's very £££.

I think i've still got some pics up of the tent all glamped up on my profile - please ignore DH cluttering the place up, he wouldn't move out of the way!

Thanks for your suggestions so far .......

You are right with the throws etc - over things - would look good and obvoiusly can cosy up under them later. I saw some lovely throws in Home Sense (Home store of TK Maxx) the other day - but never thought about them for camping - But I am now :o

I'm going to have to buy this www.sassandbelle.co.uk/product.php/1746/play-bunting from lovecats shop suggestion - I love it !! I think it will be my first non GO Camping purchase !

Thanks for the Indian store suggestions - I also live in a area where I have access to lots of traditional shops- but never have taken a look- I will now.

Is the glam camping shop- the glam camping company ?

Now you have suggested i build up gradually- i 'll get started - and by the time i have the tent next year - i will hopefully have some lovelies for it.

Time to buy a trailer for the car me thinks.

Any more suggestions keep em coming please x

Hello lemonbonbons

Tesco's and wilkinsons have a sale on camping stuff at the mo ..... probably not glam but cheap!! Oh Bn Q as well it is a good time to get stuff for camping cheap as chips!! Good luck hope that helps

Oh yes, sorry lemon - it should be the glam camping company, not shop. Thinking about it, IKEA is also a good place to look - rugs etc are quite good value and bright. All great ideas above that I shall sbe stealing!

Also a blow up sofa with throws over it can be nice in a bell tent.

hmmmmmm..... just found this too
www.notonthehighstreet.com/home-garden

• i seem to like everything ALOT !

Ikea - yes yes yes ........ not had a trip there for an age x

if you go on ebay and search for indian rag rugs there is a women selling 5ft by 4ft ones for £20 including postage which is a right bargain!

B&M ( used to be woolworths) has some reply gorgeous Cath kidston-esque square quilted floor cushions in stripes and block colours for 3.99 each. Right bargain considering the CK ones are about £25.00 each!

I could drone on all day about this topic! I also love the Glam Camping Co. for inspiration.

My tactic has been to limit myself to things I could/would have in my house too so that I don't feel quite so guilty which means I've ended up with a slight Moroccan theme albeit a neutral Moroccan theme!

Bought two of these which makes packing a nightmare but they are fantastic and therefore worth DH's huff when trying to ram them into the car. Also love these rugs on the same site so have been scouring eBay with some success for alternatives. Incredibly, they stood up really well to camping! Dirt just brushed off.

I've brought a gorgeous but very shabby antique rug out of retirement which looks great and picked up a pair of these Habitat stools which I use as side tables. I'm hoping to get the matching table.

Also these throws from India will add a bit of colour and I plan to back them with waterproof fabric so that I can also use them as picnic rugs.

Sorry, that turned into a bit of me-fest! Didn't mean to waffle. I just love seeing all the bell tent photos and hearing all your ideas. It's a bit of a fetish!

I luuurve these sites you are linking to-keep them coming I'm wasting hours "window" shopping!!

i bought some lovely cotton windbreaks from GLTC for £35 each, they came today and i love them, the fabric is really thick and stripes are on both sides (some windbreaks have them only on one side) the wooden poles are strong and have metal covering on the big spike at the bottom, so i could easily push it into my lawn. they also sent me a voucher for £5 off a £30 shop. i am tempted to get another one but i think three might be a little excessive.
solar fairy lights are also a great thing to have and i bought a couple of hanging tea light holders from e-bay one was £3 and one was £5 they are both glass free and have 6 lights, i use the safe battery flickering tea lights and they last 50ish hrs (they were £4 for 6 on amazon).
i have a couple of coloured lambskins (red and purple) that i bought cheaply from e-bay a while ago for the kids bedrooms when they were babies and now they are tent rugs. i also bought two stripy bill brown bed rolls from e-bay, they are lovely.
there is some lovely stuff in tkmaxx, i have bought loads of cushions and throws from there in the past but DH wouldnt let me take cushions camping. they also have some fab cooking stuff, i have had two le creuset kettles from there and loads of pans etc. i did see some emma bridgewater bits in there last time i went in.
i am using my old baskets from my old habitat kitchen (DH didnt like the kitchen so we sold it but i kept all the baskets as i loved them) to transport stuff and then turn over to make tables. i also have some nice split baskets from the butchers block that is great for transporting the plates and pans etc.
winefairy i love those habitat stools.

we are going to ikea on the way back from the just so festival, i cant wait i want loads of bits from there for the house (tent )

you could get some old deck chairs and replace the fabric, and make some matching bunting or even a windbreak...that would be lovely