Our girls share a bedroom. The room has two small closets and between them there is this window seat. (There is storage underneath where we keep clothes that Abby has outgrown that we are saving for Penny.) My vision has always been to turn this area into a little reading nook.
I didn’t want to spend a lot of money on this project.
I’m happy to report that the reading nook is finished and the final cost was…$0!
Eddie built some shelves from wood scraps that we had in the garage, using Ana White’s plans, and painted them with the paint left over from our fireplace mantle project. I tried to get creative to make the rest of the space cute and inviting.
I had some very ugly pillows that came with our sofa. They were so weird. The pattern reminded me of olives and eyeballs. Who wants to sleep on either of those things? Not me. Not only were they ugly, they were threadbare, flat, scratchy and just generally in rough shape.
I re-covered them with a yard of purple fleece that I had in my fabric stash. I bought it a few years ago when the fabric store had a crazy off-season sale on fleece. I was planning to use it to make pajama pants for the girls, but never did.
Now the pillows are much more comfy and cute. The model is pretty cute too.
We used old curtains from Eddie’s college dorm room to cover the windows.
I used a queen-size flat bed sheet for the white curtain in front. I just cut the sides off of the top hem to open it up and slid an old shower curtain tension rod through the hem. The tension rod was from a bathroom at our old house and didn’t fit the decor or the walls in our new bathrooms. Instant no-sew curtain! The curtain tie I think is canvas. I found it in my sewing scraps. You can’t even tell it is a totally different fabric because the colors match so closely.
I’d say this project was a hit. 🙂
linking to Serenity Now,
This is such a great idea and the pictures are so sweet. I need to borrow some of your creativity!
Thanks, Jess. I love the pics of the girls reading.
Cute, fun, and affordable! Awesome – way to go, Mom!
Thanks, Kathy. Can you get your boys to sit still and read? Because as much as I try with Nicholas and buy books on his level and about his interest, the little dude really couldn’t care less.
I love it and I love that you didn’t spend any money! That is such a great way to decorate. When my daughter was young, we made a princess reading nook in her room for her. She spent so much time there. We didn’t spend too much money on that either, but more than you for sure!
awww..I bet her princess nook was cute!
What a great way to use this space in the girls’ bedroom. I know that they will spend countless hours enjoying this space.
I’m totally jealous. I know I would spend hours there if it was in my bedroom!
I want that for myself! We have windows like that, but without the bench seat. I wonder if I could convince my husband to build the bench to kick off this project? Your little models are adorable!
ooooo…I hope you can convince him! I LOVE our bench. It’s one of my favorite parts of our whole house.
This is seriously awesome. Not only do I LOVE books (we have a library full, complete with rolling ladder! yes, we love books!) but I love that you have made reading seem so fun and inviting for your kids. May the new nook get tons of use!
I want to see YOUR library!