Looking great outdoors

Summer music festivals have their own relaxed vibe, with supermodels and rock stars mingling with the hoi polloi and everyone usually ending up in a glorious muddy mix.

But amid that sea of pop-up tents are those who manage to fly the flag for style and turn a flimsy canvas dwelling into a "little home from home".

Glamorous camping, or "glamping", has been popularised by the likes of model Kate Moss and actress Sienna Miller who manage – thanks to large dollops of cash and Hunter wellies – to trip through these demanding "roughing it" occasions and emerge still looking hot.

While top-of-the-range tents, teepees and yurts enjoyed by the well-heeled and well-known come at a price, there's no reason even a modest tent can't look chic and stand out (with the added bonus it could be easier to find as you stumble around late at night in the dark).

"People seem to think they have to throw away their style standards as soon as they step outside," says designer Christina Strutt, in mock-disapproval. The founder of uber-fashionable interiors company Cabbages & Roses, proves that's definitely not necessary with her stunning tent that's survived for 12 years as an "outdoor room" in the garden of her home in Somerset.

"I think that chilled-out festival look works just as well at home as it does in a field," she says. "Our tent's been part of family life for years, and each year we count the days until we can pull out the seagrass matting and move some comfortable furniture into our 'new outside sitting room'."

Strutt furnishes it with practical fold-up trestle tables, linen tablecloths, a sofa, rugs, cushions covered in washable cotton fabrics, and waterproof fairy lights and storm lanterns.

"We often get overexcited far too soon and end up, as we have this year, dining swathed in layers of coats and scarves eating supper in sub-zero spring temperatures!" she admits.

"But it truly is a relaxing, magical place at night-time, with fairy lights and candles twinkling in the breeze against the backdrop of the garden. We just provide our own music."

So join the camping club – all you've got to lose are your prejudices – and you could get hooked on life under the stars even if you don't travel any further than your own backyard.

If people enjoy a stylish living space at home, they generally want to enjoy a similar standard when they're camping, says Barty Dearden, founder of Pennard Orchard, one of the companies offering boutique camping for Glastonbury.

"Our teepees are each individually styled. We can create a sort of Moroccan/Indian feel with a low bed, low tables and lots of rugs so that it's a sensual and cosy sanctuary," he says.

"Alternatively, we're finding an eclectic, rustic feel is increasingly popular, and we have upturned apple crates for bedside tables." A teepee is 1,400 for two to four people. You could be converted to camping after trying out a Feather Down Farm experience. It offers comfortable camping on working farms rather than festivals, and its tents' mod cons include stoves and running water. Tents don't need to be dreary and if they're attractive, you'll surely be more inclined to drag them home – although thousands don't bother.

The two-person Cath Kidston tent isn't cheap at 65, but it should be far less stuffy as its teepee shape means there's more headroom. A bright red flag should make it easier to spot. You could guarantee good weather with the Gelert Cloud tent, 33.99 from Argos. Just lie back and look up at its blue sky and fluffy clouds design.

Portable seating is an essential for sitting outside your tent as you survey the scene, and also for perching on in interminable queues for the toilets.

Designer divas would love either Zandra Rhodes's blue and red fold-up chair with a handy cup holder, 24 from Millets or Cath Kidston's Ric Rac handy folding stool, 12. On the home front, replicate the sophistication of Glyndebourne and recline in a deckchair. Objects of Desire has retro deckies, 67.50 each, whose canvas slings mimic the orange Penguin book jackets.

Make sure drinks are chilled with an eight-litre cooling tank in a hippy-pink daisy print by Rice, 49.99 from The Contemporary Home 02392 469400, www.tch.net.Or store and keep bottles cool in a bright red Big Apple storage box, 45, from Utility Design.

Why not lie back in an elegant white hammock, shaded by a Indian-style parasol in colonial style, with garden furnishings from The White Company. Hammock 45, parasol 250, and floor cushions, 25 each. Or capture that deep American South style with a Rhode Island rocking chair, 175. It would be even better if you can strum your own guitar.

YP MAG 29/5/10