10 Things You'll Need to Turn a Closet Into a Cozy Book Nook for Kids

Thank you to Zazzle for providing the reading-themed throw pillows for our DIY book nook project.  All opinions expressed are our own.

If you have more than one child and live in a small house like us, you may be running out of places for your children to find some quiet time away from their siblings.  We have a small walk-in closet that was just being used as a catchall, so we decided to turn it into a cozy book nook where one or two of them could sit and read without disturbances or distractions.

I thought putting together this DIY reading nook would be a huge undertaking, but it was easier than I thought it.  The most difficult parts were prepping the closet and organizing the books (our children have way too many books).

How to prep your closet to house a book nook . . . 

A.  Empty out the closet completely.  (You should have seen all the things our children rediscovered during this process.)
B.  Remove the closet door.
C.  Remove any bars, hardware, and hooks from the walls.
D.  Make sure the existing closet light is sufficient for reading.  If not, change it or add additional lighting.  You could add a cordless LED lamp, a clip-on book light, or even a flashlight (kids love reading with flashlights).
E.  If the walls are not to your liking (ours were pink), paint them a light, warm color.  Choosing a dark color for the walls will cause the nook to feel smaller and darker than it needs to be.
F.  Hate the floor in your closet?  Don't worry, we'll cover that later.

Once you have all the prepping out of the way, then the fun begins!  You'll be on your way to having a cozy book nook in no time.

Pin This DIY Book Nook project for later . . . 

10 Things You'll Need to Create a Cozy Closet Book Nook . . .

1.  X-large Dog Bed - I explored many options and, after measuring the closet floor, I decided that this jumbo dog bed was the least expensive, most effective, and easiest way to create cushy seating on the closet floor.

2.  Two Large Bolster Pillows - Place two cylindrical pillows the size of body pillows in one corner of the closet to create a right angle.  (We purchased ours at Sears for under $20 each during back-to-college dorm shopping season.)

3.  Book or Reading-Themed Throw Pillows - I had looked around for toss pillows with a reading theme for awhile, but could not find anything that was more than just typography, until I took a look at the throw pillows on Zazzle.  With all the designs, shapes, and sizes to choose from, I was like a kid in a candy store.  I ultimately chose the square 20" Library throw pillow, the square 20" Dragon Magically Appearing from Books throw pillow, and the Cute Bookworm round pillow.  They were exactly what I was looking for our 3 tweens . . . cute, but not too cutesie.

4.  Soft Cuddly Throw Blanket - You can use a throw you already have or buy a new one, but a cuddly throw is a must for ensuring your little reader is comfortable and will want to stay put to read on.  You should be able to find a plush throw for around $10.  We found ours for less than $10 at Walgreens of all places during back-to-college season.

5.  Window Wall Decal - Because the nook is in such a small space, a window decal will give the illusion of something beyond that wall.  It also may spark your child's imagination about being in another place, something that is needed when he or she is fully immersed in a great book.  Window wall decals come in a huge variety of styles and sizes.  Our small 28"x20" forest view window wall decal cost us less than $6 shipped.

6.  Sheer Curtain Panel - Hang a full length sheer curtain panel over the doorway.  This will allow you to see inside the book nook without disturbing your child's reading.  It also allows much-needed light to filter into the book nook.  A solid door would not do either of these things and would likely make the reading nook feel enclosed and stuffy.  A cafe rod with hanging hardware included plus one sheer curtain panel cost us under $10 at Target.  We also added an inexpensive metal curtain holdback to pull the curtain to one side, but that is optional, as you can just slide the curtain panel to one side on the curtain rod.

7.  Patterned Fabric or Washi Tape - To dress up your closet shelves, trim them by covering the front edge with patterned tape.  You'll need to measure the thickness of your shelves, but this .75" pin dot fabric tape fit ours perfectly.

8.  Shag Rug - In addition to what you see from the doorway, our closet has additional space to the right.  If this is the case for your closet, then you can cover the remaining floor space with a soft shag area rug.  Be sure to measure the space.  This 2'x3' soft shag rug fit our space perfectly and coordinated well with the jumbo pet bed we chose.

9.  Bedrest Pillow + Extra Throw Pillows - Sometimes it's more fun to read with a buddy, so it's a great idea to add extra throw pillows plus a bedrest pillow to create additional seating on the rug.  If you shop around, you could probably find a bedrest pillow for about $20.  We found ours on sale (in neon yellow) at Target.  The extra pillows can be toss pillows you already own if you don't wish to purchase or make new ones.

10.  Bookmark Bucket - For a special touch, add a little bucket to hold bookmarks so your children are not scrambling to look for one when it's time to stop reading.  I found the bucket and the colored string in the Target dollar section.  I actually tied our bookmark bucket to the string on the ceiling light.  Don't have bookmarks? Checkout my DIY bookmark craft!

Be sure to fill your book nook with books in a variety of genres!
Take all the books from your existing library and add some more in a variety of genres and reading levels.  Your local used book stores and library book sales are the perfect places to find new titles to add to your book nook library.  We donated a bunch of books and added new titles.  This is something we'll have to do regularly, as our book nook shelves are quite full.

What do you think?  Was this DIY book nook project easier than you thought it would be?  Our children are in love with it so far and have even asked if they could sleep in it.  If you have ideas for making a closet book nook even cozier, please share it with us in a comment below.

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Which Room Would You Makeover If You Won the Armstrong Residential Ceilings “Style Is Looking Up” Giveaway? #MC

I participated in a campaign on behalf of Mom Central Consulting (#MC) for Armstrong Residential Ceilings. I received a promotional item as a thank you for participating. All opinions expressed are my own.

Armstrong Residential's Drop Panel Metallaire Vine Ceiling (Photo from Armstrong Ceiling Gallery)

We have painted ceilings in every room in our home and, to be honest, I had never paid much attention to them aside from noticing the occasional cobweb.  That was until we had a plumbing issue upstairs about a month ago and the water from the pipes leaked from behind the wall of the shower down into the ceiling of our kitchen.  Now it's all I can do to not look up at the ceiling because our nicely painted white ceiling currently has an unsightly brown-yellow spot approximately a foot wide on it.

Although my husband was a able to install hardwood flooring in our living room and even repair the plumbing issue we had upstairs himself, we are not as confident about our ability to fix the ceiling ourselves beyond just repainting it.  One thing we've learned about DIY home projects is that we need to recognize our limits, especially when I'm dreaming about a tin tile or drop panel ceiling.

Which ceiling could use a makeover in your home? Through March 15th, you can enter for a chance to win a $2,500 grand prize room makeover, which includes an Armstrong ceiling, an installation credit, and a $1,000 Lowe’s gift card, in the Armstrong Residential Ceilings"Style Is Looking Up” Giveaway.  Also through to March 15th, Armstrong Residential Ceilings will select a winner each week to receive a $50 Lowe’s gift card!  Visit Armstrong Residential Ceilings on Facebook to enter and for the official contest rules.

How to Create a Home Office Area within Another Room

At the end of last year, my husband and I created a home office space at one end of our living room that could house both our desks, while keeping them both almost completely out of sight.  It has worked out so well that I thought I would share about how easy and fairly inexpensive it was to do.  There was also a huge added bonus from making this easy change.  We added tons of storage to our living room for Blu-rays and DVDs, video games, books, the children's electronic games, their coloring books, and many other things we wanted to keep handy, but not in plain view.

The only things we needed to accomplish this change were 3 inexpensive bookcases.  I found these Ameriwood 3-Shelf Bookcases at Walmart for about $20 each.  They happened to be the exact width we needed when lined up side-by-side to make a wall in front of our desks.  If you can believe it, the bookcases were not the largest expense.  The Set of 6 Beige Winsome Capri Foldable Fabric Baskets sell for about $30 per set.  We bought 3 sets for slightly less because we had found them on sale on Wayfair.com.  They just happened to be the perfect size we needed, both in width and height, to fill each shelf with two across.  I also found them in Black on Amazon.com, but we ended up deciding that the Beige would help to brighten up the room.

Since it was impossible for me to take an aerial photo of our home office area, I created the diagram below for your reference instead . . .

As you can see, it was extremely easy to do and would be for anyone who has a long room, whether it is your living room, family room, or bedroom.  Our newly created office space takes up about 1/3 of our living room.

Of course you need to adapt this idea to your own space.  If you only have one desk to house, then you might not need 3 bookcases across the front.  The important thing is to measure exactly how long you need the wall to be and then find the bookcases that meet your needs both in height and width.  We also added a small bookcase that we already owned onto the side of my husband's desk to hide his desk from view for anyone walking in from the kitchen.  You can definitely keep the cost down by using what you have already to supplement the new bookcases and bins.

If you try this idea in your home, I would love to hear how it turns out.

My Dream Bathroom

When we purchased our home, my husband and I swore that the first thing we would redo, after we removed the many layers of wallpaper both upstairs and downstairs, would be the upstairs bathroom.  It has a dark brown tub with a matching toilet and sink topped off with bright gold hardware.  The walls and the vanity are laminated with a beige/cream colored marble design.  Notice I am using the present tense and not the past.  Yes, we still have what my husband has not-so-fondly labeled "1970's cruise decor" in our upstairs bathroom.

Someday, when we actually get around to remodeling, I am hoping for a modern bathroom, but something that is still warm and homey and not too sterile and severe.  What really makes a bathroom is the vanity and the bathtub.  I have looked at many bathroom vanities over the past few years and have determined that a modern shaker style would be my favorite.  In fact, I would love to furnish my entire home the same way.  I have always liked dark walnut with chrome hardware.  My dream bathroom would have the vanity above with a framed mirror the full length of the vanity.

What would your dream bathroom look like?

Curves Invade the World of Modern Decor

Recently, my husband and I have been having the wouldn't-it-be-nice-to-move-to-a-larger-house conversation again.  Every time we get on this topic, I always start to think about how I would decorate our home if we could start over from scratch.  Although I do not dislike the mission style furniture we currently own, I would love to revisit the idea of modern decor.

Modern furniture and wall art is not what it use to be, which was lots of straight lines and right angles.  Today's designers have shown us that furniture can be rounded and still look sleek.  Some modern chairs, such as this Ball Chair, look sleek, but more importantly, they look comfortable and kid-friendly.  Even though our twins will be 5 years old soon, we still do our best to stay away from furniture with sharp corners. When I was browsing online, this Ball Chair was the one that our 7 year old son seemed to like the most, probably because it looks fun and inviting, rather than lacking in warmth, like some modern furniture.  What would be more kid-friendly than a pair of these Ball Chairs sitting by a large plush shag rug?

Eduardo Xol & the Hayneedle Hustle $15,000 Backyard Giveaway

Celebrity designer, Eduardo Xol of ABC's Extreme Home Makeover, has signed on to help Hayneedle launch their new site devoted to outdoor products . . . The Backyard. Eduardo will be The Backyard's resident expert for six weeks.

To make this site's launch a memorable one, you are invited to enter the Hayneedle Hustle $15,000 Backyard Giveaway. How do you enter?

• Watch the instructional video for the original hustle
• Make your own video version of the hustle, making sure to include your favorite or photos of your favorite Hayneedle product in the video
• Upload your own video to Hayneedle's Facebook page

Entries will be judged on creativity, how the Hayneedle product is incorporated into the video, how the Hayneedle Hustle is performed, and the video quality. One grand prize winner will receive $15,000 in Hayneedle Backyard products along with a consultation with Eduardo Xol about which products would work best for their backyard space. 5 finalists will each win a $150 gift certificate to Hayneedle.com .

You have until July 2nd, 2010 to enter. Visit Hayneedle Hustle on YouTube to view some fun Hayneedle Hustle videos.

No compensation was received for sharing this information with my readers.