My Reading Nook: Window Seat, Sconce, and Nothing Else

The reading nook almost became a project. I had a list: a small floating shelf for tea, a potted plant in the corner, a wool throw in a complementary color, a second pillow in a different texture. I kept adding to the list and not finishing the nook because I couldn't find quite the right items from it.

Then the wall sconce went up, a simple plug-in with a linen shade, mounted at 62 inches from the floor on the left wall, just over the window seat. I sat down with a book to test the light. And I realized the nook was done.

The cushion on the window seat is a faded French blue linen, a little worn at the edges. The back wall is white. The sconce is small and brass-finished and not trying to be noticed. The view out the window is mountain and tree. There is nothing else in the alcove, no shelf, no plant, no extra pillow. And the absence of all those planned additions is what makes it work.

Good reading nooks are about subtraction. The addition list I'd made was a decorating impulse, not a reading impulse. A reader needs light, a comfortable place to sit, and as few distractions as possible. Everything I'd been planning to add was a distraction.

I did eventually add one thing: a small ceramic hook on the wall beside the sconce, where I hang a lightweight blanket in winter. That was the last addition. The nook is still almost bare, and I use it every day.