A Nook of One’s Own
1. print, Etsy; 2. Jade yoga mat, 3. Ganapati statue; 4. succulents; 5. kilim, Ebay; 6. yellow desk lamp, West Elm; 7. Seda Japanese Quince candle; 8. pink stool, Ikea; 9. pennant throw pillow, Etsy; 10. reading chair, West Elm
This story begins in the mid-’80s with a Berenstain Bears book in which Sister Bear spends an afternoon, legs (paws?) thrown over the arm of a reading chair, a book in one hand, an apple in the other. The Bear treehouse was already the height of coziness, but this illustration clinched it: I wanted a reading chair of my own.
There’s a photograph of my mom from this same era. She is sitting in her bedroom reading chair, a soft wide thing upholstered in the cheeriest fabric of tiny, bright flowers. She is wearing a sweater vest, a striped, button-down poplin blouse, and a high-waisted, full wool skirt: perfect intellectual ’80s prep. She has a book in her hand, and she’s smiling. This, too, is etched in my mind as a more grown-up ideal. Isn’t it funny how these images stick in our minds and shape what we want for ourselves, even twenty years later? This, I imagined, is where style, ease, and pleasure meet. She looks so happy sitting there, so relaxed; and she’s wearing a really great outfit.
I once sat with a friend of mine in her very lovely apartment with its high ceilings and tall windows and a wide kitchen island. To me, it seemed perfect, but she wanted a little nook of her own, too, a “weirding room,” she said. In the context, I felt as if I knew what she meant even though intellectually I didn’t: a place for her sewing machine, collages, and yoga mat, a tiny space where all her “girl things” and projects to live safely out of sight from her husband’s curious eye.
Yesterday I finally googled “weirding room” and was taken straight to the pages of Dune. Have you guys read this classic? You’ll have to explain more fully what the implications of a weirding room might be in the context of the book to me, but what I found skimming through was a note left from one lady to another:
To the Lady Jessica––
May this place give you as much pleasure as it has given me. Please permit the room to convey a lesson we learned from the same teachers: the proximity of a desirable things tempts one to overindulgence.
If we had a room (or even just a nook) with a cozy chair tucked in the corner, surrounded by what most inspires us, wouldn’t it be fun to see how life would change should we overindulge in such desirable things?
This is my wish for 2011: to create a little space in my apartment just for me: a place to meditate, succulents lined up on the nearby windowsill, and a chair for me to throw my legs over the arm of. My mother’s sweater vest is tucked in my bureau, second drawer from the bottom.
Do you have a space like this in your home? What delights have you tricked it out with? Have you read Dune (please don’t tell me a weirding room is where they, like, murder people!)?
Kristina Strain: This the most beautifully articulated wish I’ve perhaps ever heard!1 year ago
Cadi: Oh, sigh, a nook of my own is all I want… a place where I can leave my sewing machine up instead of having to put it away all the time, a project or four in the process of being created that can be left to marinate, shelves where I can store books and folds of fabric and jars of crochet hooks and buttons… a pretty rug in any color I want, curtains to match, in shades that scream GIRL to me. Maybe a plant, definitely a great task/reading lamp, and a chair with good bones that can wear many slipcovers like so many party dresses. It needn’t be a big space, I’ll take a closet!
We are looking for a new place to call home and one of the items on the Must Have list, right after a dishwasher, is a place, even a corner, that can be my spot. I’m already decorating it in my head.
1 year ago
EB: I loooooved those Bears and I doubly love the “weirding” room. Awesome.1 year ago
Julie: This is the happiest little bit of inspiration I’ve seen in a long time. I absolutely adore that rug!
I have to tell you though – I thought I wanted a reading corner like this too, and kind of set one up, only to find that I actually love reading in bed most of all. So comfy and luxurious!1 year ago
Kanesha: Such a happy post. I just splurged on some Japanese paper that I’m going to frame up and also use it to make some mother’s day books (as gifts).
I do wish I had more “space” to myself. My children are squatters. I love it and also have *big sighs* about it.1 year ago
Suzy: I do!!! I call it my “girl room” (my mother calls it my “girlie room” which, I’ve told her time and again, has an entirely different connotation). It’s a room where I’ve let my inner 7-year-old run wild. The walls are pale green and the doors and moldings (my house is almost 100 years old) are painted pale pink. I know, hardly design savvy, but it pleases me. I have an entire wall full of collaged photos, cards, drawings etc. and a big ol’ overstuffed reading chair my husband gave me before we were married. There are two stuffed bookshelves, an art desk and a regular desk, most of my art supplies, and a closet where I keep my fancy dress up clothes that sadly, my lifestyle doesn’t enable me to wear (I live in a very small town. If I wore a tulle head piece to the grocery store my neighbors might have me committed). Now all I need are some local girlfriends to come over and play with me. (Didn’t mean for that to sound… dirty.)
Writing this makes me feel kind of guilty, like I’m spoiled and people might be envious. But oh did I ‘earn’ this, considering those long years spent living in a corner of my husband’s woodworking shop, sleeping on a mattress on the floor with sawdust everywhere and no room for my clothes let alone anything else. When we finally bought a proper house I immediately claimed a room for myself. I don’t know what we’ll do if we have a kid… Maybe it could live in the basement? (KIDDING people, just kidding.)1 year ago
Laureen: I want to go to there!!!! A weirding nook of my own is my first priority after I finish this damn thesis…I am dangling it in front of my nose like a carrot.1 year ago
Alison: I am SO excited for your little nook! You’ve put together the most original and delightful collage for it–your creativity is always so refreshing and inspiring Sar.1 year ago
Katie: This is so gorgeous and colorful…I want a nook like this!! I especially adore that “Live What You Love” print.
Hmm…I may have to get creative and carve out a little space for myself!1 year ago
Serial: Virginia Woolf just called it “A Room of One’s Own.”
Love it. Mine’s teeny tiny, and I don’t have a comfortable chair in it (yet!) but I still find myself drawn to the kitchen table. I can’t figure out why …1 year ago
Catherine: I read the entire Dune series decades ago and loved it and I’m not even a scifi reader. If you’re thinking about it- do it, they are all engrossing books.
I have been fortunate enough that our last two houses had the space for a room of my own and it is such a wonderful thing. In our house here it is quite small but painted a lovely shade of green and holds my books, meditation chair, and a chaise- for reading in the late afternoon sun. Every woman needs her own space!1 year ago
Brie.: my fiance and i are searching for our first apartment together for when we are married – we’ve agreed at minimum that we need an extra bedroom for guests/office/crafting…i’m hoping to convince him of a ‘nook’ also – i place to ‘check out’ for half an hour and just be…1 year ago
aleda powell: I have a room that I adore. I have three benches set up in it for work, and a corner to paint in. I have a jewelry-making bench, just under a window looking outside, a sewing bench, with a fantastic ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’ poster hanging above to inspire me, and a computer/work bench, because I am a photographer, and need someplace to camp out, with a bamboo blind hanging above it that has some of my favorite photos, fabric swatches, and just things that inspire me tucked into the slats. In between the sewing bench and computer bench, I have a corner where my easel and watercolors live. There are bookshelves with my favorite reads in there as well, and albums with more of my favorite family moments tucked into them. It is truly one of my favorite places to be. I even take my 8 month old son down there and he loves to just look around and see the pretty things while mommy is working. All I need is the cozy chair for us to snuggle in!
No matter what your job, life situation, or interests, I strongly suggest everyone have a space of their own.what could be better than a space in your house where you feel truly comfortable, inspired, and at home?1 year ago
Designing Diva: Oh, this post really hit home! There is nothing so comforting as having a space of one’s own…even if it is just a little nook. I just rearranged our home’s extra bedroom (or as my husband calls it – The Girly Room) to incorporate my childhood painted wood vanity/desk so I no longer have to sit on the floor while I make jewelry! It’s facing the tv so I can watch period dramas while I create and I have a little loveseat to lounge on and read when I feel the need for a break. The paint is a lovely fern green -so soothing – and it’s decorated in vintage, shabby chic type style. It’s important for me to have a space that really inspires my creativity and extreme girliness, so that’s why I love my little nook! Great post!!!1 year ago
Meenoo: I’m a girl that lives in nooks. When I was a kid I created the space beneath the stairs as a nook. I love a creative space for myself. I do read in bed, because it’s so warm and comfortable and the cats hang out with me. But my office/jewelry-making space has plants, a beautiful rug, a big white desk, a peacock stained glass that hangs in front of the window, and lots of pretty pictures on my corner as well as tons of beads neatly organized by color. It’s definitely my nook.1 year ago
Allison: Xoxox1 year ago
Hannah: I am about to create a nook within a nook and I am PSYCHED…my apartment is the attic floor of an old victorian house so its split into 4 dormers and a middle part, and one of the dormers is my “studio”…I have a tiny drawing table and a dining table where I keep books and my sewing machine, but I have a plan in the works to drape a sheet over the dining table and put a feather bed and pillows under it to make a fort. I might be a hobbit.1 year ago
Jessi: This sounds like heaven! You know you’re creative when after reading this suddenly I’m working this into a corner of my room!! Some flowers, maybe a plant would be a nice addition.1 year ago
Dog Obesity: I always ask myself why I enjoy reading your stuff. I think I know why now.49 weeks ago
Rhonda: Creating my “girlie room.” So far, a white wash book shelf, a round table for two (now for one), a chair with a girlie seat cushion(a Pier One clearance find) and a lavender-colored shag rug. To finish will paint the walls a lavender-gray mix and find patterned curtains (something fun), add a comfy chaise lounge and will cover the walls with photos of visited beaches. I’m excited!44 weeks ago