IKEA wants us all to make forts (and we're so on board)

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If isolating in your house isn't enough for you, IKEA has come up with a way for you to take being on your own one step further – by using your furniture to create your own fort. Note: you could invite the family in, if you felt like it.

In a bid to encourage people to stay at home, IKEA Russia has released a set of six instruction manuals that'll turn a variety of furniture types into impressive play structures – a pretty fun way to while away a lockdown afternoon.

Want more ways to pass an afternoon? Try our collection of how to draw tutorials, or our pick of the best graphic design books. 

A fort is just one of the six structures you can create

Ad agency Instinct teamed up with IKEA to design the instruction sheets, which are in the style of a typical IKEA flat pack guide with simple black-and-white images. Choose from building a wigwam, castle, playhouse, tent, cave or fortress (all of which are branded with the Swedish umlaut-adorned letters ö and Å). Or why not make them all?

IKEA recommends using products from its own stores, but does advise that you can sub in alternatives where needed. Most of the furniture included are basics that you'll almost-definitely have, like dining chairs, sofas, cushions and sheets – fort staples, really. Though you might need to do an online order if you want to build an accurate wigwam as you'll require a Tjusig (no, we don't know either – you can see it below in the gallery of guides – click the arrows to see the images).

We think it's an inspired piece of marketing that people can get hands-on with, and it'll certainly be more harmonious than the usual flat-pack projects. Brands have approached the lockdown situation in different ways (some more successful than others, eh McDonald's?), but this whimsical, boredom-busting angle is definitely one of the best. IKEA has struck just the right tone with this creative project (see here for more projects to get involved with). 

And if you do make a fort, share your creations on social media with the hashtag #явдомикеикеа, which loosely translates as #IAmInAnIkeaHouse.

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