Creating Joy at Home with AllModern – A Cozy Reading Corner

I can’t believe it’s been almost a year since we’ve moved into this home! After a lot of initial improvements (like paint and new hardwoods), I’ve been focusing on each room at a time. Sadly, our largest space, the living room, has long been neglected and underused. I’m so glad All Modern jumped in and sponsored this post to create a joyful, cozy reading corner.

(Part of my design journey includes sourcing great products and sharing them with you! Naturally, some of my content includes affiliate links, which means, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission if you click through and purchase.  This commission supports my coffee and plant addiction and allows me to write more content and support our family, so thank you!)

If you’ve been following along with my One Room Challenge series, you probably recognize this space! While part of a bigger project, here I focused on this small corner. While you likely wouldn’t guess it, this space has given me a lot of grief while we’ve lived here.

Even though it’s our largest room in the house, it is the darkest corner. Window size and placement makes furniture choice tricky. simple plant or table never really fit and certainly didn’t function. Sigh.

This became more of an issue with all four of us at home and every square inch more valuable. So, I set out to make this a functional, cozy reading corner where I might enjoy my coffee in the mornings, my son could use for school during the day, and one of us could curl up and read in the evenings.

I started with this ladder bookcase. It serves a few purposes. First, we’re short on storage in this house. Secondly, the angled shape gives some dimension to this boxy room and really fills up the awkward corner.

The nearby wall sconces also do double duty by adding a bit of light to this dark corner and also adding some interest to the long, undefined wall.

Plus, they were installed without any electrical! Check out my post on how to install wall sconces without wiring!

I rounded out the space with a large jute pouf which can be multipurpose as a seat (the boys love it obviously), an ottoman, or even as a side table for books and magazines. Plus, I love an excuse to add some texture!

Finally, I styled this space with some key minimal pieces to keep it feeling cozy. I used a matte black vase for contrast along with my favorite mix of wood, metal and plants.