Whether you’re a lit-loving book fiend and collector, who finds gateways to new worlds behind every cover, or prefer your books read to you by smooth-voiced narrators, our collection of reading nook ideas can help you to create the perfect space to sink into the stories you love and savour every last word.
The first step in creating a cosy reading corner is identifying the perfect space. You could repurpose an empty closet/wardrobe, utilise under stair space, loft space, commandeer existing underutilised rooms across the home such as landings, spare bedrooms, conservatories, dining rooms, and even create a reading corner within your living room by transforming bay window alcoves, or via creative use of zoning.
Now that you’re mentally calling in the tradespeople, or suddenly seeing nook potential in underutilised corners of your home, read our top 5 reading nook ideas to keep the inspiration flowing.
Create the Nook of Your Dreams With Our 5 Reading Nook Design Ideas
1. Zone and Accessorise With Rugs
If you’re looking to create a cosy reading corner in your living room, or within any room of your home with an existing designated purpose, rugs help to break up and define different zones within a single space, without disrupting the conventional flow or structure of these spaces.
Rugs are especially effective zoning elements when sized appropriately to sit under all, or a great deal, of your nook’s furniture, so be sure to consider rug size alongside the other elements in this list of reading nook ideas.
To break up the hard edges of the room or zone, pairing curved furniture with a round rug can work well, otherwise, selecting a rectangular rug is usually the safest bet. If the furniture of your reading room, or the room around your zone, is neutral, and you don’t have lots of wall art, rugs with bold colours or patterns can add aesthetic interest and serve as a feature. Otherwise, a neutral rug is likely going to be best.
2. Chair Comfort is Critical
Beyond your book or e-reader, your chair might be the most crucial point to consider when reading our collection of reading nook ideas.
There’s no chair on earth as comfortable as a bean bag chair, and as bespoke bean bag manufacturers, we’ll guide you through choosing the right model for your reading nook.
At GBB, our models span compact designs to down right stately ones, and are available in a wide range of sizes, fabrics, and colours, to help you select the perfect model, and match its design to your nook.
For readers for whom space is in short supply, small bean bag chair models like our wedge models provide a sumptuous seat, back support, and won't overwhelm your nook, while our chair and armchair models have a more conventional silhouette, offer lower back support, and a larger seat.
If you lean towards traditional interior design styles, and are creating a cosy reading corner in a larger space, or have a whole room dedicated to your reading, our layZ models are perhaps the ultimate bean bag chair.
If you prefer to lay back with your reads, explore our recliner and lounger models, and if space isn’t a factor, our couch models enable you, your partner, child, and even the dog, to enjoy your reading nook together.
3. Float Away With a Footstool
Put your feet up, sink back into your chair, and truly immerse yourself in your book by adding a footstool to your reading nook.
Bean bag footstools offer a wider range of benefits beyond those of traditional pouffes and footstools. Benefits that make them the perfect addition to any book nook, and a key consideration for anyone creating a cosy reading corner in their home.
Comfort - Doing away with uncomfortable wooden frames, and featuring high-quality, sumptuous fabric that actually supports and cushions your feet, bean bag footstools are the most comfortable on the market.
Wide Range of Designs - Unlike traditional footstools, our bean bag models are bespoke, and available in a range of colours, and in corduroy, velvet, faux fur, real and faux leather, faux suede, and luxury chenille fabrics, enabling you to match your footstool to your chair, wall colour, or any other textiles across your nook.
Though these points are enough to secure footstools a place on our list of reading nook ideas, the low weight of bean bag footstools is another excellent benefit, helping to make your nook child-safe (light, no hard edges and no way to trap fingers), and protecting the flooring of your nook, thanks to their light, wood-free, leg-free construction.
4. Explore Side Tables and Book Storage
Whether you’re creating a cosy reading corner within a living room, or commandeering an entire room/existing space for your reading pleasure, no reading nook is complete without a side table.
Whether it’s for resting down your drink or snack when flipping the pages, placing down your e-reader and charger for hands-free reading, putting your phone just out of reach enough to escape into your story, or as an aesthetic statement, a side table is a must, and a reading nook idea you shouldn’t skip.
Every book-lover knows that books are the ultimate ornament/accessory, so be sure to explore the many affordable side table designs that enable you to store and display your reads, to help you accessorise your nook in style.
Carefully consider your available space, whether you’re trying to create a traditional or modern aesthetic, whether round or square designs are more suited to your space and desired look, the aesthetic impact of metal, wood and glass materials, and whether you’d like a single or multi-tiered design, as these decisions will help to form your nook’s aesthetic.
If this wasn’t enough to secure their place on our list of reading nook ideas, side tables are handy to hold not only decorative accessories, but a candle or incense burner, to help you set the tone of your nook with scent.
Whether you’re transforming a room into your very own reading nook, or creating a nook within a living room, wall-mounted bookcases, or repurposed fitted shelving, are an excellent way to display your books and lend your nook a library-like aesthetic.
5. Lamps are Key to Creating a Cosy Reading Corner
Lighting is an essential point on our list of reading nook ideas, not only practically speaking, for physical book readers who don’t have backlighting built into their favoured paper editions, but to create ambience and set the mood of your nook.
Both table and standing lamps are an excellent cosy lighting option for reading nooks, and a great way to add depth and height to your space.
Depending on the size of your nook, and either the light around your reading nook zone or in your dedicated reading room, you could opt for just one kind of lamp, or use both table and standing lamps, and match or mismatch these models to help you achieve your desired aesthetic.
For a more traditional look, wall lights could also be an excellent and practical option, depending on your space and the positioning of your seating.
Fairy lights are a cosy nook essential, and if this were a longer list of reading nook ideas, would likely deserve their own dedicated section. While they may be best when paired with existing lighting, fairy lights add a warm and calming atmosphere to the space, and look fantastic when trailed along shelving, outlining mirrors or other furniture you may have in your nook, or when used inside a mason jar or bell jar as a stunning lamp.
Inspired? It’s time to make those reading nook design ideas a reality. Good luck, and remember us for your cosy bean bag chairs and footstools.
