Are you passionate about books? Did you always want that “Beauty and the beast” style home library, and you just didn’t have enough space? Don’t worry, you can have the second best thing to a home library – a perfect cozy corner designed for enjoying in the pleasures of a good book. Reading nooks are charming little hideaways where you can read, relax, reflect, and stash your favorite books. You don’t need a lot of money to create one. You just need some unused space and a few things for decoration.
First step: Find a perfect corner
Consider a space in your home that you love, but feel it’s neglected. It should be a spot with enough lightning, and place to sit. But most importantly, ask yourself when you look into that corner: Do I want to wrap myself in a blanket and teleport to another dimension, to a world that exist only on paper? The more inviting the space, the more you’ll want to use it. Some of the most charming reading nooks are created in architectural niches and alcoves. But if your home doesn’t have that kind of place, every corner that looks appealing and it’s not in a crowded noisy room, is a good choice. This should be a peaceful getaway for the family, so choose a spot where people are not passing and are not coming often.
Step two: Visually separate the space
It is essential to visually distinguish your reading corner from the rest of your living space. The easiest way to do that is painting the walls in that part of your home to a color that is really different from the rest of the room. When opting for the color, make sure that it complements the rest of the space. Maybe even easier option is wallpaper. You can also use floor-length curtain or drapery panels to define the space or a small sized rug.
Step three: Comfyness is required
If you want the space to be inviting for you and for your kids, make it comfortable enough that your family desires to spend hours and hours there. Consider that your family will spend a lot of time there, so a good chair or a good place to sit is crucial. If you are a cosiness lover a big fluffy chair that swallows you up will be a perfect choice for you. You might also want a chair that you can curl up in. A great and easy idea is to put a bunch of pillows on the floor or a bean bag instead. Choose your sitting prop carefully, let the motto of your little getaway be: Sit back and enjoy!
Step four: Lighten things up
Lightning is the key to a perfect reading nook. Nothing beats glory and brightness of a daylight, so try to get as match of this as you can. If, however, your corner is set away from the windows, it is not the end of the world. You can compensate the lack of daylight with different tips of lamps. It’s quite easy to find ceiling, hanging, table and floor lamps online. When you choose a lamp for your reading nook, make sure the light falls on your book pages.
Step five: Arrange your books
To store your books, you’ll need a book shelf or a china cabinet, or if your book collection is a little smaller, maybe a wooden basket, or something similar. You can buy a secondhand book shelf on a flea market, and then repaint it or refinish. If you buy a couple of smaller book shelves, you can paint them in different complementary colors, to add a little life, and to separate your books from the books of your children, or even if you like everything to be in proper order, organize books by genres.
Step six: Personalize your nook
Now that almost everything is finished, it’s time to add a little of you in your corner. Add some stuff you like that you associate with reading, for example paintings of fantasy lands, a globe because book is all about travelling to different places, figurines of book characters, vintage posters etc. Also you can decorate walls with photographs of your family or your children’s drawings, to let them know that it is a perfect spot for everyone.
It’s a fact that reading helps you relax and get rid of the stress you have accumulated, and what could be a better way to release stress than reading somewhere in a quiet and cozy space that was designed just for that? Not only your reading nook will help you relax, but it will also help nurture and grow love of books in your children.
