A beautiful and cozy Reading Corner in a home in Asheville, North Carolina, USA – Photo Courtesy: Anoldent
Unfortunately, not all of us have quite the space or the number of rooms necessary to create a home library which is why these tend to be the sole luxury of the very wealthy or those who have been fortunate enough to inherit mansions.
However, just because you can’t dedicate an entire room to your books doesn’t mean that you can’t still showcase them and create for yourself a great spot to sit and enjoy them. Just as effective would be to create a ‘reading corner’ in your room where you could sit and read and where you could display your reading material. This wouldn’t have to be a big space, but it could make your entire room feel more homely and cosy and it’s great if you occasionally want to do something other than watch TV when you come home from work.
Here we will look at how to create a reading corner and at some of the great little additions and touches that can make it really shine.
The Basics
Robert finally has the reading corner he always wanted in his home in Zoetermeer, Netherlands – Photo Courtesy: Robert
Essentially, your reading corner is going to be made up of a few elements. Those are a book case – which you will find instantly lends warmth to the entire room, an arm chair, a free standing lamp and a coffee table. The free standing lamp will give you something to read by and make the corner feel cosy when it’s just you in the room, and the coffee table will give you somewhere to put your books when you’re not reading them and to stand your tea (an absolute must).
This can work perfectly in either a bedroom or a living room, but try to keep the corner away from the TV so that the temptation for distraction isn’t there.
The Touches
Cyril’s home library nicely illuminated by Led Lights in his home in Bulle, Switzerland – Photo Courtesy: Cyril Vallée
Now you have your basics, there are a number of ways you can add to your reading corner and make it feel all the more cosy and atmospheric. One such addition is LED lighting in the bookcase. This way you can light up the books and add a cool glow to the space that will seem to beckon you over. It makes a way to showcase the books themselves, and it will look great when you’re not reading them.
Likewise, you might also want to think about placing a few ornaments on the shelves in front of the books. Here less is more and you don’t want to make the shelves feel cluttered – but a few well chosen items can give the space character and make it feel more like a space for quiet reflection. On my bookcase is a melting clock styled after Dali’s paintings that appears to drip off the edge, and a miniature globe.
Look at this beautiful Reading Corner of physician Sheila Sund of Salem, Oregon, USA – a nice clock, a nice picture and a Kindle at hand! Photo Courtesy: Sheila Sund
The coffee table too is also a good place to add a few small touches. Adding magazines to the lower shelf (if it has one) or a Kindle for instance can provide guests with a few other ways to read if they fancy it, and if you really want to make this space welcoming for guests then you can even add a snack or two for them to dip into while they read.
James is a supervisor at Planet LED – a company manufacturing LED downlights and LED torches in Australia. He is a complete foodie and he enjoys exploring the different cultures and cuisines around his vicinity in his free time. Visit http://www.planetled.com.au/ to know more about his workplace. You can follow his team on Google+ or Twitter.
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