Another Day Zero challenge complete! The challenge was "make a fort like when you were kids," and we spent quite a few hours one evening coming up with a fort. My helper for this challenge was the lovely Jason Szulc.

Our story starts in an ordinary living-room with some ordinary furniture.

From which sprang a fort! We didn't get any intermediate photos, I'm afraid. The design is based on having two armchairs facing the settee with a small gap between for moving around.

No fort would be complete without a flag. For this exercise, we're using a teatowel depicting the state of New Mexico.

As soon as the design came together, it became obvious that we needed a way to defend ourselves.

It turned out that the best way to get in and out was between the armchairs. Unfortunately this only really worked in what we dubbed the "Dukes of Hazzard" configuration.

The nearest thing we had to a proper portcullis was this fetching cushion-and-crate combination.

Finally, we moved some "furniture" into the fort to give it a more homely feel.

It turned out that we had a few hours and a load of cardboard spare that evening, so one thing led to another and we ended up building a wonderful cardboard fort as well! Space didn't lend itself to having both forts up at the same time, so we have no idea which one fares best in a fight...

The fort is based around two sturdy towers with walls between.

Inside the fort, we can see more of the construction.

It's even possible to bar the doors to prevent unwanted entry.

We ran out of time and materials towards the end, so our attempt at some defense mechanisms didn't go so well. A little more reinforcement, though, and this could have made a rather effective deterrent.

Huge thanks to Jason for all the help with this challenge, it was a really fun evening.