How to Make Your Home Staycation-Worthy

A green backyard with a hammock and a table and chairs.

Treat yourself to tranquility and have a real retreat by making your home staycation-worthy. Put your DIY skills to good use, and turn your home into an oasis of peace, quiet, and relaxation.

Make a Meditation Garden

A bubbling fountain.

You don't always have to leave home to find the peace and quiet you've been longing for. Make your staycation a true retreat from the pressures of day-to-day life by building your own meditation garden. Pick a spot away from the house and the normal backyard activity, and create your own private outdoor retreat.

A DIY fountain is the perfect tranquil touch to any meditation garden. It doesn't take long to dig out a shallow hole and place a preformed pond liner inside. With some plastic tubing and a pump, you can use a plastic statue or watering can to create a beautiful and peaceful place to meditate.

Build a Poolside Retreat

A pair of wood deck chairs next to a pool.

There's nothing quite like relaxing by the pool while on vacation—unless you're doing it at home while on staycation, of course. Even if you don't have a pool to lounge around, you can create a relaxing poolside atmosphere with some simple DIY steps.

First, you'll need a lounge chair. It's actually not too terrible to DIY your own patio lounge chairs, the perfect furniture for creating that poolside atmosphere. Precut your wood and use butt joints, wood glue, and screws to put all the pieces together. Once the chair is sanded and finished with varnish or paint, you'll have a beautiful spot for lounging.

You don't need a deck or a bartender to enjoy cocktails by the pool, even when the pool is imaginary. Any small kitchen cart can become your outdoor bar. And if you haven't got a small cart, DIY your own. All you basically need is four sturdy, short wooden posts and two shelves. Small hinge joints can be used to attach the shelves to the posts to create an open box. Leave 2 inches of wood at the bottom of the posts to mount casters and wheels, and create a rolling bar cart. Place a small cooler on the bottom shelf to hold ice and cold items (like fancy fruit garnishes). Don't forget to stack a few plastic cocktail and margarita glasses on the top shelf, along with some liquor bottles. You'll want a shaker, tongs, and bar tools to complete the cart.

Create Your Own Fine Dining Restaurant

Strings of outdoor lights.

Who says fine dining has to be in a big city restaurant? You can create the atmosphere of a fine restaurant right in your own backyard with the right materials and a little DIY spirit.

Find a level spot to place your table. A small, round table is perfect for an intimate seating. Cover the table with a beautiful tablecloth and set the table with a centerpiece. Take things to the next level by covering your chairs with matching slipcovers, if you like. Add candles for ambiance. Create your own awning over the table by burying four posts around it. Attach a sheet across the top at the four corners of the posts. Now, you can hang strings of lights between the poles and finish with DIY paper lanterns.

Building a fire pit takes work, but it's probably not as difficult as you think. Once you've dug out the hole for the pit and filled it with gravel and sand, you can build the walls of the pit with stone or pavers—but only if they haven't been water-treated. Dry-stack your stones around the pit, and you'll have a wonderful gathering spot.

Take your fire pit to the next level by turning it into a part-time grill. Any fire pit can potentially become a grill with the right tools. Add a grill grate to the top of the pit, and you're ready to go. A tripod will keep food up and over the flames. A fire pit is a great place to cook barbeque, and with a cast iron pot, you can cook all sorts of side dishes to go with it.