If your like me and you love to read you’ll know that having a place that is super quiet and peaceful as well as cozy is a HUGE deal!!
I want my kids to feel the same way about reading as I do, not only will it benefit them in school but it can also take them to places that we can only dream of within the swirling adventures of a book.
My son is now at a age where I want to encourage him extra to pick up a book. He will be starting Kindergarten this fall and eventually he will soon be reading more and more.
I wanted to make him a special space that is all his own where he can have the freedom to explore books.
Cue the magical reading nook.
It just so happens that when I had been contemplating how I was going to do it his dresser drawers decided they would all break and become unfix-able, so I thought, why not a salvage and remodel project!
I’m not going to lie, it was a big project!
At the start I was wondering if I had bit off more than I could chew but the end result has been nothing short of amazing!
The open mouthed smile of wonder on my son’s face was more than enough to make it all worth it!
Important Features of a Reading Nook
- A place to sit and/or lay comfortably
- A place to set the books
- A cozy canopy of sorts
- Good lighting (magical feel is always better)
Reading nooks can be made in all kinds of ways, you can have sturdy structures like my remodeled dresser, giant poofy chairs, really whatever works for you and your space. This is something where you can let your creativity rein free and see what becomes of it!
Creating the Reading Nook
Rough Remodel
- My base is the remodeled dresser.
- To start, I gutted it, all that was left was the mirror, the flimsy back piece, and the two side walls.
- This is where I had to get creative
- I took 1 x 4 and cut them to size to reinforce what was left and added it to the insides and the backside
- I added 2 x 4 to create a “shelf” for two seats, one mid way to sit on and one near the bottom to put all the books and things, plywood was cut and added on top of the “shelf” parts
Fine Tuning Remodel
- Once all built it got sanded by hand
- Primed it
- Then painted it two different shades of blue, which is my son’s favorite color, it needed 3 coats
Decorating & Final Touches
- I made a cushion for the top sitting shelf out of a twin mattress topper from Walmart that I cut and doubled up, I used some tractor print fabric that I had on hand to sew the cushion cover, my son loves tractors!
- Amazon has all kinds of bed canopy’s and such, I found one I liked that had lights to go with it, I installed them above the nook once they arrived
- I added the personal touch of his personalized name letters that I had made when he was born using the same fabric I used to make his curtains into the reading nook at the top of the mirror
- I also added some keys with and without wings into the canopy at the top, they dangle down and move around as if really flying. It added a very magical component and pulled it all together!
I hope you enjoyed my run down of my magical reading nook and with any luck maybe it inspired you to make one of your own!
Happy reading!