How to Kit Out Your Caravan Awning for Summer

Summer Setup Guide

A practical guide from Bedam Leisure — caravan & motorhome specialists

Your awning is the single biggest upgrade to caravan life you'll ever make — it roughly doubles your living space for the price of a long weekend away. But there's a world of difference between an awning that's a damp afterthought and one that's a proper outdoor room you actually want to spend the evening in. The difference is almost never the awning itself. It's what you put inside it.

Here's how we'd kit one out for a British summer, built up the way you'd actually pitch it: from the ground up.

First, the room itself

If you're starting from scratch or replacing a tired old canvas, an inflatable porch awning is the easiest way in. No poles to thread in the rain — you inflate it in a few minutes with a single valve, and it packs down far smaller than a framed awning. For most touring caravans, a compact air porch is the sweet spot: big enough to live in, small enough to leave up all week.

Bigger caravan, or want headroom for a tall vehicle? The Quest Peregrine Universal Air Porch Awning (£342.99) gives you more usable floor and fits a wider range of rail heights.

1 Flooring

Start from the ground up

The mistake we see most often is people spending hundreds on the awning and then standing on wet grass inside it. A proper groundsheet is what turns a tent into a room. It insulates your feet from the cold ground, stops mud being walked everywhere, and makes the whole space feel finished rather than camped-in. The velcro-in deluxe groundsheets are a different league from a cheap plastic sheet — they're carpet-soft underfoot, breathable so the grass survives the week, and they clip straight into the awning so they don't slide around.

2 Seating

Chairs you'll actually sit in all day

A camping chair gets used more hours than anything else you own on a trip, so it's worth getting right. The two things that matter: the fabric and the recline. Look for textilene — it's weatherproof, dries in minutes after a shower, and won't sag like cheap fabric after a season. And if you're settling in for a long afternoon, a proper reclining lounger beats a rigid folding chair every time. Buy the chairs once and they'll last years.

Packing tip: a purpose-made carry bag for two Royal chairs (£22.99) keeps the boot tidy and the chairs clean between trips.

3 The table

One good table does everything

Meals, card games, the morning brew, somewhere to put the laptop down — your table earns its keep. For caravans and campervans where every kilo and every centimetre counts, a lightweight aluminium table that folds flat is the one to have. It sets up in seconds and slides into the smallest of gaps when you're packing down.

4 The kitchen

Cooking outside, done safely

Half the joy of summer is cooking out in the open. A portable gas stove gives you a proper hob without firing up the van's kitchen and heating the whole place up. Two pieces of advice from us, though. First, choose a stove with an automatic safety shut-off — it cuts the gas if the flame blows out, which matters in an awning. Second, check your connections before you travel: the fitting on your stove or BBQ has to match your gas bottle, and the right hose and regulator is what makes that safe. If you run Campingaz bottles, get a hose made for them rather than bodging an adaptor.

Don't forget a pan that travels well. The Quest 24cm griddle pan (£14.99) is non-stick, dishwasher-safe and made for the UK market — ideal for a fry-up with a view.