DIY Canopy Tent Using Drop Cloth

Learn how to make a no-sew canvas DIY canopy tent for over the bed with this quick tutorial. Perfect for any nature-themed or little boy’s room or playroom.

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I recently transformed my son’s room to give him a dinosaur themed room.

I knew I needed something to go above his bed to complete the look.

Since it was nature themed, or jungle themed (in his words), I instantly thought about a tent.

I decided to use a drop cloth and some industrial fittings to create a simple, easy and quick tent canopy over his bed.

Why Did I Use Drop Cloth?

My first thought was to buy canvas fabric from the fabric store. But I chose drop cloth for a couple of reasons –

1. The price of drop cloth was about a fourth of what canvas fabric would cost me for the length I needed.
2. The drop cloth already has all sides finished. So when I cut it, I only need to finish one side which can be easily done using hot glue or a sewing machine.

Materials Needed for the Canopy Bed Tent-

• 1/2″ diameter and 18″ long steel pipes – total 3
• 1/2″ floor flanges – total 3
• 1/2″ steel caps – total 3
• Drop Cloth
• Hot glue gun ( or you can use a sewing machine if you want)
• Anchors and screws for your wall type

How to Make a DIY Canvas Canopy Tent

This is an unbelievably easy project and I have the full video below. I have also listed the step by step tutorial including all the details of the calculations below.

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Calculations for the Canopy Tent

If you are installing this in the middle of the room, you can just take the center point and mark out on both sides.

We have the bed on one end of the room.

I will do my best to explain the calculations in words below. I also explain them in detail in the video so be sure to watch it if you need a more visual guide.

• The bed is 44″ wide. So the mid point is 22″
• The bed is 4″ away from the wall to allow for the cloth to fall. So the mid point for the canopy is at 26″ from the end of the wall (this is the middle tube)
• The middle tube is also 18″ from the ceiling.
• The side tubes are 18″ lower than the middle.
• The tube near the wall is 2″ from the wall so 24″ from the center
• The other tube is also 24″ from the center.

Making the Canopy Tent

Step 1 – Mark the locations

Using the above calculations as a guide, decide the locations for all three floor flanges. These will be the centers of the flanges. Place the flange and mark the location of screws .

Step 2 – Attach floor flanges

None of my flanges fell on studs so I had to use anchors.

I tried to check if I would be ok using just 2 anchors instead of 4 per flange but I wasn’t very comfortable with the stability given that little boys like to hang on stuff and pull.

I ended up adding 4 anchors per flange.

Attach the floor flanges using screws into the anchors.

Step 4 – Attach steel pipes

Screw the steel pipes to the flanges.

Step 5 – Add the caps

Screw the steel caps to the ends of the tubes to give it a finished look.

Step 6 – Prepare the drop cloth.

My drop cloth was 15′ x 48″. For the canopy tent, I needed 24″ wide so I just split it it half. This is also a good time to iron it smooth too.

Fold in and hot glue the raw edge of the drop cloth.

Step 7 – Drape the “tent”

Drape the drop cloth over the pipes.

That’s it!

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A simple and quick project that I believe completes the look of the room.

My little guy is having a lot of fun laying in bed under his special tent and reading!