Closet Reading Nook

Our third bedroom upstairs waited longer than almost any of the other rooms to be redone. I knew that it would become a "big girl" room for Johana as soon as we had another baby. So, last year when I found out that I was pregnant, I became excited to start planning the makeover. Pinterest was great for ideas and I had a lot of fun with the whole process. The room had two closets, and the main one was big enough that I didn't think that we needed to use them both for storage. Since my little girl LOVES books, I wanted to turn it into some type of a reading nook for her, but wasn't sure if I should or not. Then after I saw what Thrifty Decor Chick did with a closet turned reading nook in her home, I knew that it would be fairly easy and would probably be a fun addition to the room. Below is a picture of what the room looked like when we first came to look at our house.

As you can see, this closet was just an ordinary closet with shelves for storage. All it took was removing two shelves, securing the bottom shelf with support brackets to turn it into a bench, some paint, some sewing, and ta-da, we had a reading nook.

I made the cushion and the two pink pillows. It was my first time making a seat cushion, so it hangs over the bench just slightly. It works though. I even made my own piping so that it would match the fabric. I used this tutorial for the pillows, which were super easy to make.

The top two shelves are to keep books and decorations.

There was already a light with a pull string in the nook, the string just needed to be replaced, and a cover for the bulb. I found a candle holder at Ross for $11, that became a mini chandelier with some hooks and a chain to hang it.

I also added a small ceiling medallion to cover a small hole that was up there. I like the little bit of visual interest that it adds, plus it matches the bigger ceiling medallion that we used on the main light in her room.

It is a fun place for a toddler to climb up and play. She loves pulling the string to turn the light off and on, and calls it her, "special reading place." She has also been excited to show people her sparkly light. I am happy with the way that it turned out, but still find myself tweaking it here and there.

-Mandi

Linking to Sarahndipities and Blue Cricket Designs and Thrifty Decor Chick.