Curling up with a good book can be as relaxing as meditating. Creating reading nooks throughout your home or dedicating a room as a library is one way to ensure you design a few quiet moments for yourself every day. Getting lost in a book can happen within a single paragraph.
Consider some of these ideas when designating reading areas and creating reading nooks for your family of readers.
Kids’ reading corners
From teepees to tents, forts, and caves, kids love to explore secret, exotic spaces and they’re very partial to anything kid-accessible and kid-sized.
For a two or three-year-old, you can make a nifty A-frame fort out of a cardboard box, re-engineered and trimmed with colorful masking tape. A thick blanket folded becomes the carpet, while washable throw pillows give it that cozy setting that can easily turn skimming a picture book into a little nap.
You can even create a reading nook for a child in your home office. Mount two tension rods between two tall filing cabinets, curtain the space front and back, add a soft cotton rug, a body pillow, some cushions and a throw, and you have an instant, comfy cave where your child can read and you can tackle emails, Facebook and Instagram.
If you’ve got the space, create pirate ship reading nooks for at least two children from a single old boat cut in half. Lined with blankets and cushions, it’s the perfect space for a small person to crawl into and set sail for lost planets and imaginary worlds.
Teepees, pod chairs, even a series of milk crates in a corner with cushions on top (bonus: you can store books in the crates) set aside space for reading and quiet time in your children’s lives.
Grown-up reading corner ideas
If you’ve got a dormer or a bay window, you may be able to build in a classic window seat with shelving at the ends and drawers underneath, a bench cushion, some pillows and a throw. Natural light is always best for reading, and you often see window seats like this on stairwell landings in stately mansions with deep window wells.
Don’t despair if you don’t have a suitable space for a window seat. Any low-traffic corner can become a reading, meditation, or contemplative nook in your home. Try setting aside a corner on the front porch and designating it a phone and sound-free zone. A Papasan or birdcage chair or even a hammock, a large potted plant for privacy and a very small table or shelf just large enough to hold a book are all you need.
Designate a corner in your living room, furnish it with your most comfortable chair and an ottoman or pouf, add a screen that hides you and you’ve got an instant retreat in plain sight. Depending on how much and what kind of use your living room gets, you may want to put your headphones on and listen to music while you read.
Or you might be able to open up the area under your stairs and create a nook very similar to a window seat in style and furnishings. You won’t have the advantage of natural light, but you can make the space both quieter and more private by hanging heavy velvet curtains and installing shelving.
An attic reading nook is a wonderful retreat. If you’re planning some renovations anyway, invest in a large, unusually shaped window for the front or back of the attic to take advantage of as much natural light as possible. A large triangular window follows the shape of a peaked-roof wall and if you invest in triple glazing it won’t let too much heat in. A wicker emperor chair, a small Oriental rug, some oversized leafy tropical plants and a vintage-styled chaise longue could work here. Or you could go modern, with a contemporary leather chaise, color block rug and some angular snake plants or large cacti. One way or the other, you’ll have created a comfortable reading nook and gained a discreet bird’s eye view of the neighborhood. If the rest of the attic is used for storage and spoils the getaway mood, invest in a screen so you can you really get it out of sight and therefore mind. One final thought: silent book clubs are gaining in popularity these days. Instead of sitting with a group of friends in a cafe reading, why not create a DIY version of the silent book club by making reading space in your home. The entire family can spend half an hour once a week reading together quietly and companionably, sipping on hot chocolate and escaping into other worlds and lives.