How to Make a Bamboo Cabana in Your Backyard

Bamboo Cabana

Construct some shade with this freestanding covering, which makes lounging poolside that much better.

Published on July 15, 2021

bamboo pop-up pool cabana with daybed — Photo: Dana Gallagher

Nothing sounds nicer to us than swimming over to this pop-up pool cabana, but it will transform any outdoor setting—and provide shade. The walls are X-shaped bamboo supports—we used Jamali Garden Natural Bamboo Poles ($14 each, jamaligarden.com) to create ours; the top is a textbook lattice. We used eight-foot poles for ours, but yours can be any size. Just be sure the sides and back of the lattice top are the same lengths as the tops of your "walls." No tools or construction skills are required; just zip-tie the poles together where they intersect, and wrap the joints with rope for a rustic finish. Knot canvas tarps—like these from Tarps Plus (from $22.50, tarpsplus.com)—into place, then kit it out. Ground your new-and-improved space with a jute rug for texture and round it out with rattan furniture lined with water- and weatherproof fabrics.

Created by Hilary Robertson

What You'll Need

Materials

26 Bamboo poles (Jamali Garden Natural Bamboo Poles, 8' long, 2" diameter, $14 each, jamaligarden.com)
Zip ties
Rope
Fret saw or Japanese saw
4 Canvas tarps with grommets (Tarps Plus Canvas Tarp with Grommets in White, from $22.50 each, tarpsplus.com)

Instructions

Illustration by Brown Bird Design

Stake four poles vertically into the ground to mark corners of cabana.
Using zip ties, secure a pole diagonally at bottom of one side post and top of another. Secure another diagonally the same way, to make an X. Secure intersection of the two diagonal poles with a zip tie. Secure two more poles to form top and bottom of square with zip ties. Wrap all zip ties with rope to cover. Repeat to create squared-in X's on remaining sides.
Illustration by Brown Bird Design

Lay out six poles (lengths cut to match horizontal side supports, if needed) parallel to one another, evenly spaced. Top with 4 evenly spaced perpendicular poles, as shown, to make roof lattice. Secure all intersection with zip ties, then wrap with rope to cover. Place lattice atop cabana.
Thread rope through grommets and around poles to tie canvas tarps to top and sides of cabana.

Originally appeared: Martha Stewart Living, July/August 2021