When camping and glamour meet

The latest - and most glamorous - outdoors trend is setting up camp in Lewiston.

"Glamping," or "glamour camping," takes tents and trailers and turns them into upscale lodgings, replacing sleeping bags with plush beds and fringed pillows. A variety of glamping styles were on display this weekend at Sue Johnson's residence in the Lewiston Orchards, where she gathered friends and family for the second annual International Glamping Weekend.

"If you like camping, you're definitely going to like glamping, because it allows you to use your imagination, just kind of personalize your area," Johnson said.

Johnson's imagination led her to create what she calls Hotel Safari. It started with a trailer she purchased in 2013 and spent about a year lining with exotic patterns and modern comforts from floor to ceiling. Then, Johnson's husband got into it and constructed a wooden front, styled to look like the face of an old western hotel.

A total of eight glamped out on Johnson's lush green acres for the weekend. Each glampsite had a theme articulated in detailed accessories.

Diane Leffler and Leann Bennett, longtime friends and Lewiston residents, said the idea for their Bedouin Boudoir started with finding bedspreads in California.

"We were just looking for stuff," Bennett said. "It just kind of evolved."

Bennett credited Leffler with the creative vision.

"She's a yard sale queen," Bennett said. "She's very artsy and does a lot of decorating and stuff like that. ... And she is the queen of repurposing. She can take anything and make it into something spectacular."

The Bedouin Boudoir was a tall blue tent Bennet and Leffler gave a bohemian vibe with sashes and beads hanging over the entrance. Inside there was a carpet and two beds on risers to free up space beneath. Outside, Leffler and Bennett set up a seating area complete with lights and a fence Leffler made from scrap wood.

Both agreed they enjoyed glamping just for the fun of it.

"The whole scene creates a group of people that have cohesive interest," Leffler said.

The glamping trend has been around for a number of years and arguably has roots on the Palouse. MaryJane Butters of Moscow credits herself with creating the term, which she invented while chatting with a couple who had stayed at the bed and breakfast she opened 12 years ago.

Butters' bed and breakfast was not the average bed and breakfast. The beds were in wall tents with wood-burning stoves inside and clawfoot bathtubs outside, and the breakfasts were served at a 20-person table outdoors. When Butters opened the business, she got coverage from the likes of the New York Times Style Magazine and the Today Show.

"I was the first person to do something like that," Butters said.

Butters is also the name behind International Glamping Weekend, held the first weekend in June. Finding out about the holiday is what made Johnson want to celebrate it.

Johnson's guests included a number of first-time glampers who made significant treks for the festivities. Elizabeth Struiksma of Spokane Valley and her friend Carol Boitano of Ellensburg, who decked out a tent in a Victorian style with white sashes, wicker furniture and a tea set, said their first experience glamping had been fun and relaxing.

"We'd do it again," Boitano said.

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Embree may be contacted at cembree@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2278. Follow her on Twitter @chelseaembree .