Keep reading. Just five (or six) steps to create the perfect book lover’s hideaway.
My den needed a few tweaks to become a place where I could spend hours lost in a book.
Natural light that streams through two big windows, a coffee table where a book can be stashed quickly, a roomy, comfortable sectional sofa with a soft blanket and squishy pillows, a touch of nature, and a bookmark, were all I needed to make this den a spot where I could read all day.
You know that feeling. You’re so deep into the book you’re reading that the surface of the everyday world above you is barely in sight. You know, vaguely, that you should put the book down—to answer those emails, put the laundry in the dryer, make a sandwich—but you dread the controlled ascent. Just one more page. Then, just one more chapter. And so on. The last time I felt the world tug at me to put a book down was two weeks ago. The book was The Trad Wife’s Secret by Liane Child. Just the escape I needed.
Of course, a good book has earned a good place to read it. A couple of years ago, I was renovating my house and writing a book about the process called DESIGN FOR YOUR MIND. As a mental health therapist with a lifelong passion for interior design, I wanted to make changes to the house that helped me recharge after years of caring for my elderly parents. When it came time to tackle the den, I zeroed in on a few tricks that would bolster the focus I needed to reconnect with my love of reading and writing. As I saw it, the recipe called for natural light, some elements of nature, comfortable seating, a soft blanket, a place to stash my book and blanket, and maybe music. And oh, yes: a bookmark. I don’t know if I’m alone in this fetish, but I hate having to put my book down and worry that I’ll lose my place.
The den in my house has ample natural light. It streams in through a large south-facing window and a large window facing east. When the afternoon sun shines bright through the west-facing window, I can close the curtains and still enjoy the indirect natural light that comes through the south-facing window.
When I’m reading or writing in natural light, as opposed to artificial light, I can lose myself for hours. That’s a good thing. Creativity and intellectual activity require persistence, and persistence requires the time needed for extended focus. Reading in natural light is better than reading in artificial light for a few reasons. Natural light’s full spectrum and higher intensity improves contrast and reduces eye strain, making text easier to see and read comfortably. Natural light also brightens our mood, alertness, and focus by aligning with the body's circadian rhythm, suppressing sleepiness, and improving cognitive function.
Next, I looked for the most comfortable piece of furniture where I could sit and read. I decided on a sectional sofa. I find the right-angle, crooked-elbow shape of a sectional sofa to be strangely welcoming. It feels to me like a warm embrace. When I’m stretched out on the sofa under a soft blanket, my back against cushy pillows, pages of the book illuminated by the natural light, I feel safe but not sleepy, animated but not agitated.
And when, however sadly, I must take a break from reading, the round glass coffee table with the lower tier is perfect for stashing my book. An ottoman behind the sofa stores my blanket. I can straighten up the den in minutes. That’s another secret of this room. To look at it, you’d never know it was a portal into other worlds—a diver’s paradise.
