The Wall boys were always constructing, yup, walls--as in forts. Five-year-old twins Ryan and Bryce and their nine-year-old brother, Cooper, would drape blankets over the furniture in their Florence, Massachusetts, home, but the blankets would inevitably slip, interfering with their fun. Enter their father, Chris, who fashioned a fold-up fort in the frame of Ryan and Bryce's doorless bedroom closet. "Their clothes were in a dresser, so the closet was unused space," he says. Mom Ellen is especially pleased with her husband's solution. "It's quick and easy--pull it down, toss on a blanket, and the boys are ready to play," she says. "There's no need to move around chairs, tables, or sofa cushions. And cleanup is just as fast."

A) Use a saw to cut off the corners on 1 end of each arm. Attach the arms to the door frame with a large lag screw on each side. Drill the holes in the arms slightly larger than the screws to allow for easy movement.

B) Attach each arm to the crossbar with 2 small lag screws, predrilled. Drill a hole near each end of the crossbar for the rope to fit through.



C) Secure each rope around the screw hook, thread it through the hole in the crossbar (B) and knot.



Do-it-yourself tips
• Remove any doors and measure the width of your door frame from the inside edges of the frame. Buy three 2 by 4s in lengths that will fold down to a kid-appropriate height. The Walls' door frame is 48 inches wide and 79 1/2 inches high. Chris used two 45-inch-long 2 by 4s and one 44 1/2-inch-long 2 by 4 (for the crossbar). The fort folds down to 35 inches above the floor.
• In addition to wood, you'll need: 4 small lag screws and washers (Chris used 1/4- by 3- inch-long screws), 2 large lag screws and washers (Chris used 3/8- by 3 1/2-inch screws, but larger would, in most cases, be fine), 2 large screw hooks (These should be larger than cup hooks, which aren't strong enough. Fasten the hooks to the insides of the door frame near the top corner of each side.), and 2 pieces of rope (each piece Chris used was 1/2 inch thick and 80 inches long).
• Tools checklist: Power drill, saw, stepladder, pliers, ratchet set, medium-grit sandpaper

•Added safety measures: Sand down the wood to avoid splinters. Keep in mind that the structure is not strong enough for kids to climb or hang on. When the fort is folded up into the door frame, it should fit snugly, but be sure to also loop the rope from the crossbar (see photo B) over the hooks on each side to keep it from falling.

Cost: About $20 for wood, hardware, and rope.