Living Room: Creating A Little Reading Nook

Do you ever have an odd little corner or space in a room that you just aren't quite sure what to do with it??  Well, for me I have this kind of half wall that is next to our fireplace that for the longest time was bare.  Then, almost two years ago, we bought a beautiful chair to put in that spot.  I absolutely love this chair and felt it was a great accessory for the room, but the entire space was still lacking.

Over the last month, I kept staring at this space wondering how I could make it more functional and cozy for us at the same time.  We talked about creating a spot to hold books for the girls and then maybe some magazines for me, but trying to find the perfect spot to put them.  Then it hit me while I was staring at this spot one day, I can put some shelving or wire baskets to store the books.  

So that is just what I decided to do.  We decided to shop our home first and see if we had anything that we could use to store the books.  We actually found a couple different options, a) Ikea spice racks, b) three tiered metal magazine rack, or c) two individual wire baskets.  We decided to go with the two individual wire baskets since they were larger and felt more open.

First step was to mark the spot where we wanted to hang our baskets.

During this process, Jeremy discovered that the hook on the right would go into a stud.  So for that one, a drywall anchor was not going to be needed.

To camouflage the drywall anchor, I painted over it using some of our touch-up paint.  It was super easy to hang and all done in 15 minutes.

The bottom basket is at a perfect height for the girls to reach and they have been loving having a spot just for their books.

Eventually, I would like a little table next to the chair, but for now I am totally loving using the pouf.

Here is a little before and after shot of our new little reading nook. 

Did I mention how much I love this little spot!!

With much love,

Kristin

Playroom: A little reading nook

I have this little corner spot in the girls' playroom and before kids it used to house our desk, then we moved the desk into a spare bedroom to open up the room more.  Then with the arrival of our first baby came TONS of baby stuff so the little space was taken over with baby toys and a diaper changing station.  Then I saw a way to take these shelving units from IKEA (one of my favorite stores) and put them on their side and make seating benches, but still have the cubbies to hold the ever growing mound of toys.  I had seen the idea on pinterest, which lead me to one of my favorite blogs for organizing.  Anywho, much to my disappointment the shelves didn't fit in the spot so they have found a new home in the playroom - more on the bookshelves turned benches in another post :)

So now what to do with this little corner spot, bring in a little reading area for the girls.  I thought BRILLIANT idea Kristin and I was going to make this work.  My very generous dad, who absolutely adores and loves his granddaughters, bought the girls little chairs from Pottery Barn Kids.

Now I had something for them to sit down in and just needed something to hold a few books since I had tons of cubbies holding the rest of the books in their room.  I purchased three shelves from Ikea (did I mention this is one of my favorite stores) and put the shelves above the chairs.

The shelves are placed within the girls' reach so they can grab a book or two and sit down in their comfortable chairs and enjoy!

There are still a few finishing touches to make to this area, but I am so happy with the progress.  It brings a huge smile to my face to see the girls relaxing and reading in their chairs.  And here is another full shot looking straight on.

Up next for this space: a table to put between the chairs (built by my hubbie) and a light that suspends from the ceiling.


With much love,
Kristin