Tuesday, September 15, 2009

A Place to Read {and a li'l giveaway!}




When things are important to us, we make time and space for them. I like the idea of a place just for books & reading in my home, especially while my children are little. Doesn't a reading nook just seem charming and irresistible? I've gathered a few pictures here and there to inspire us to make a special spot for our books and, space permitting, a cozy place to enjoy them.




from top left:
kids reading corner how-to from BH&G
plate rack turned bookshelf from Martha
TwoStraightLines image found on Flikr
colorful/geometric nook via ApartmentTherapy
A cozy reading spot at the top of the stairs from Soule Mama

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We don't have a room (or even a corner, really) in our little house that can be exclusively dedicated to reading. But I have reserved two cubbies of Henry's shelf for books. And some days we limit quiet time to just books - no toys, no media. And on those days, we pile pillows around the bookshelf and make a cozy little nest for him and his books.

I have a headful of ideas for decorating a reading corner -- framed book-jackets, posters and cleverly-mounted illustrations. A mobile of mini-book covers. I love the medley of reading-related art that Meg Duerksen put together in the first photo on this post.

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So. To inspire you to create a pretty little spot for reading, we're giving away 2 collections of vintage children's book illustrations. What will you do with such a thing, you wonder? Well...
here are a few ideas to get your wheels turning:

Frame them with colorful mats
Mod-podge them on a piece of brightly painted wood.
Make charming packaging out of them (as seen on Design Mom) and send some goodies to a pal.
Attach several of them to a piece of twine with mini clothes-pins to hang in your child's room.


Endless possibilities!
Leave a comment to enter.

xo,
Em


*Additional entries given for any of the following:

tweeting, posting an announcement on your blog,
or adding a button (if you haven't already).

Let us know if you've done any of these and we'll give you another entry.


Winners will be announced Thursday morning!

43 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wish I could make a whole room dedicated to reading. Love the inspiration pictures. Thanks, Emily.

Rachael said...

Our library is my absolute favorite room in the house--I decided rather than having a separate dining room (since our kitchen has a breakfast nook too and we don't do a lot of formal entertaining with small children!!) that I'd redo the dining room as a library. my kids LOVE it, and I love having a space where *most* of our enormous book collection can live all together...and we can curl up together on the couch and read.

as a sidenote, I love library book sales for procuring children's books at reasonable prices. We have about 350 kids' books (I just finished cataloging!!) and the vast majority were bought at a library sale for less than fifty cents in great condition.

Megh said...

Those pictures really did make me swoon! In fact, I think I'll go read something right now.

kami said...

i love the reading nook idea. thanks for the inspirational pictures!!

Stacy Hart said...

creating a reading area for my little one has been on my mind lately... these would be so cute!

Sally said...

What a great idea. My someday house will definitely have a cute little reading area in it.

Crapos said...

Both of my children's rooms have spots for reading. My daughter has a fluffy sheep chair tucked in a corner with a basket of blankets and a wall mounted shelf at toddler/preschool height. My husband attached wooden blocks accented with dinos to the ends of the shelf for diy bookends. I love peeking in her room to find her sitting their with a pile of books.

Unknown said...

does a basket full of books that gets dumped out everyday next to my recliner count as a place for reading? I would love to spruce it up :)

Katie said...

Books are my fave. And Jolie's. I LOVE that she loves to read just like her mom and dad.

Katrina said...

sign me up!

Lindy Johnson said...

love books and am loving your blog!

karina said...

I'm a new reader of your blog - love this post!

I have a wonderful book nook tucked in our living room that provides us with hours of bliss. Now that we're expecting our first child I'm in the process of decorating the nursery - a book theme, of course! He gets his own book nook and all the decorations around the room are book related. Lots of fun!

Kalli said...

Books Books Books!! Yaaaaaay!!!

Kalli said...

also, I twittered about it, because I'm cool like that

Lindsay said...

If I could I'd devote an entire room as a library.

Rosalee said...

I really look forward to the day when I can have a cozy library in my home. For now I just like to build up my "brain food storage" as a friend calls it. I would love to win this!

Joan said...

I'll EAT YOU UP I LOVE YOU SO! :)

Sarah said...

These pictures are a great inspiration! Maybe one day I'll be that organized!

jeanine said...

I would love a little reading nook in my house... but right now it's too small. One of my favorite rooms growing up was our library!

Danielle said...

Love these ideas...what a great way to make reading special and enjoyable...like it should be.

annie said...

How I wish we had space in our teeny apartment that I could make a little nook just for reading! I love the colors in and on children's books and would love to decorate a special space with them. Keep dreaming, right?

Christina said...

Thanks for the ideas!

Kristen said...

Wow, those pictures are stunning. Really dwarfs our bookcases!

Kristen said...

I have your button near the bottom of my scrolling blogroll

http://goodie-goodie-gumdrops.blogspot.com

Emily said...

Tweeted, Facebooked and Blogged!

Claire has a little bench that sits right in front of her bookshelf, it is her favorite place to sit and read. I do need some cute prints to hang up above...!

DixieJo said...

oh so clever! we are a print-rich home too!

Meg said...

I love the idea of framing book art. Please please!

sarahandmatt said...

please pick me. I have four small children and a serious decorating deficiency.

Jonesy said...

My hubby's a contractor & I'm SOOOO having him build that step-up window seat! I'm posting this on my blog right now!

Widge said...

great blog! I love reading and have been waiting for my husband to buy me a book case for 10 years!!! I love your ideas! gorgeous

Crystal said...

I've always wanted a reading corner or room. I just got a button too!

Sean and Janet Eyring said...

I love reading each night with my boys. With the younger one we still enjoy picture books, but the eleven year old enjoys longer chapter books with me reading and providing the voices of the characters!

Garden Street Zoo said...

Your blog is fantastic. I love the reading corner idea. Maybe once we graduate from board books...I just got a button as well.

Vicky said...

I can't wait to create a book nook in my house. We just acquired an old classroom book shelf from the newly remodeled school in Juneau, which we're going to paint and turn into a fun place to display our books.

Barb said...

I love reading and I hope to instill it in my boy, too. Right now he loves tasting books. :) (PS- I have a BLOOM button on my blog!)

Marlo said...

OOOOH, this is very exciting. I could seriously handle some sweet vintage gems for my little ladies. Loving Bloom; keep it up!

Nicole Douglas said...

Still reading daily! Love it.

A & C said...

love this giveaway and your new blog

Katie Richins said...

I keep wanting to make a special reading area. Maybe the artwork would give me the motivation I'm lacking?

Alissa said...

These would be great in my office (where I see lots of kids!) I tweeted about it also.

Heather said...

I too love the idea of a reading nook...just wish there was a place to put it in the house...I will keep looking for that perfect place...until then the bookshelf in the computer room will have to work. Thanks for all the inspiration.

Alicia said...

I love this post! Making a book nook is the perfect way to show your children how important reading is!

I posted an announcement on my blog, too!

Hillary said...

LOVE this idea! My 2 1/2 year old daughter is addicted to books and I often find her strung out with mounds of books "reading" all alone in her bedroom! Cute ideas and LOVE the photos!