As I get older I feel like I have become a little set in my ways. This isn’t a bad thing. It’s a good thing. I love the finer things in life and have found a balance between work and my private life that seems to be in harmony. I no longer care about the weather. I can’t control it so why waste time thinking about it.
I started reading books several years ago and have become hooked. I now collect books and have built a little library that has an entire wall filled with books. I have not read all of these books but I love the way it looks. The room was an extra bedroom near the living room and we knocked down the wall and turned it into a small library. The lighting is low and the walls have wood wainscoting going halfway up with a chair rail for added effect. We added two leather very comfortable chairs where you can literally curl up to a good book. The floor is a continuation of the living area and we have a large rug perfectly suited for a library covering the floor.
The entire plan was to build the book wall on the opposite of the chairs and between the chairs is the gas fireplace. Floor lamps and a table lamp are the looks we were going for and I build the little table needed for the exact space available. This room only has two leather chairs and two small footstools. There’s a small table between the two chairs for a glass of wine or bourbon and it’s big enough to place your book on it when you’re done. This little room has quickly become my favorite area to sit, read, and have a pleasant conversation. It’s the little things in life that begin to have meaning.
Our home is filled with music all the time from our Spotify account but this little room doesn’t have speakers in the ceiling like all the other rooms in the house. Instead, we purchased a tiny Google Home Mini device that plays music from our Spotify account and all we have to do is talk to it. “Hey, Google! Turn on our Spotify Mozart playlist.” A few seconds later, Mozart fills the little room. The sound quality is perfect for this room as the volume is low enough as to not disturb the reading or conversation. If you want it louder just ask Google to turn it up. The Google Home device is about the size of a hockey puck and it cost about $30.00. It does a lot more than play music but that’s the only thing we use it for. We have a second Google Home device sitting on our bar in the lower level and we use it all the time for trivia talk and sports scores, etc. It’s a crazy little device and there are all kinds of competitive products like this on the market but this is perfect.
If you’re thinking about expanding or remodeling in the near future consider adding a small little reading room to your next home project. you won’t regret it.