apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

i vote for cozy library reading nookish area!

I second it!

we created a cozy nook/library/study in a former hallway (albeit a very wide one) in our apartment and have never looked back! Our friends always compliment the idea. If you like to read and have a lot of books I say go for it. There is nothing better than creating a space for something you love to do!

I had a place like this that had a large dining area, this is a lucky dilemma indeed. I also vote for a library. Have you seen the lovely blog Making it Lovely? If not check it out, she has the most wonderful library I've ever seen and it seems to be positioned in a space between rooms.

Good luck. Your home looks beautiful. I would love to see more of it. Do you have flickr site?

Well the space was obviously intended to be a dining room. If you don't need or want one right now then I like the library idea. You could have a wall of bookcases and a couple cozy chairs.

I like the lounge idea. I'd want it to be an entertaing space. You're lucky to have a semi-open kitchen. Then I would even consider splitting the gym/office into the living room, or making a guest bedroom. Sounds like your needs are quite different, I'm just brainstorming what I would do with that floorplan.

Turn it into an art room.

I loved having a library when I lived in a rather huge Victorian house some years ago. Although I didn't have all my books in there, I had a nice collection, plus my easy chair, and a dropleaf desk. The room was quite tiny but incredibly cozy. Would have been a great place to sit and knit too.

Realized that I missed the part where I was seconding (or thirding or fourthing) the library idea.

We weren't lucky enough to get a dining room in our house, but if we had I had always imagined a combination library/dining room. If you've seen the cooking show Nigella Bites, you might have noticed her stunning dining room with wall to wall books and an oval table. It looks fantastic and is likely very functional, even if you rarely use the table for dining.

If you have an extra room...give it to me. Can anyone second that, please?

I like the library/study/ reading nook idea.

But my gut says, get a counter or bar height table (bistro size) and a couple chairs. That will perfect for entertaining - since people always need more room to sit and set drinks down... without taking food or drink into the living room.
And it will be there for projects when you find yourself wishing you had the space.

Put bookcases on the left and right side of the room; the backs of the book cases facing the walk/passthrough (you can paint the backs of the bookcases fun colors and hang pictures on the "wall" space created; the shelves facing the window for books - the space between the bookcases can have a curtain hanging to close off the area; the idea is to create a hideaway reading niche; that could double as an extra guest sleeping area as well - have a roll out futon; cushion for reading that can double as a guest bedroom. As the bookcases will most likely not reach the ceiling you should still have light passing over the top and the curtain can be pulled back to allow light into the other spaces. Guests will have an area of privacy if you have a full house.

Leave the extra room empty -- and I mean EMPTY, not a heaping place for random stuff -- until the day when you find yourself wanting to do something that the other rooms don't accommodate well. Whatever that thing is, it's your perfect use for the extra room.

You might like to go with a modern twist on the old Victorian concept of public/private living areas.

Make your big living room your room for larger social activities. That's where you'll put your big couches, your entertainment system and numerous small tables for times when you have several people over.

Meanwhile your "problem" room becomes your intimate social space, for times when you just want to sit down in a couple of small armchairs with a close friend and chat over a coffee.

I think you'll be surprised at how naturally you'll fall into using the two rooms for different social purposes.

Get rid of the bar, at least, that is what I would do.

It's difficult to tell from the photos, but the bar actually looks more like a kitchen-island. Is there any way you could use it as such? I also live in a 1920s bungalow, and my dining room is also in the middle, between the living room and the kitchen. I don't have a bar/kitchen island as the house is relatively unchanged. But I'm with Amphetamine on here- the bar doesn't seem to be helping. If it were in my house, I'd remove it, paint the walls a deep, interesting color (dark slate or red) and put a nice big dining room table and chairs in the middle of the room. And a chandelier. And maybe a funky mid-century modern credenza. Oh wait, that's what I already have in my dining room!

What is it with people wanting to hang curtains everywhere that there are no windows?!? The suggestion sure comes up a lot here.

I think that just looks cheap and tacky. Help me understand the difference.


(refering to desi's suggestion - no offense intended)

so, if i do open shelving (a la ikea's expedit series, but more funky)... which way should i face the books?

thanks for all your suggestions! the reading nook/potential guest room really sounds like the way to go. that bar is HUGE. it sticks out so far into the room that it's impossible to ignore, and there's no chance of removing... my landlord is deathly fond of it.

thank you for the compliments. i'll eventually get photos up of everything.

I'd vote to fourth (or by now fifth or sixth) the idea of an art / library / gallery-esque space.

I agree with the library suggestion. Make sure you run your bookshelves floor to ceiling and over the tops of your doors and windows. Not sure of the size of the space, so if it is small, I suggest creating it with open ended shelves (Ikea Lack). If it is big, use conventional bookcase structures. Unless you're desperate for book space, don't run the shelves over the arch between the space and your kitchen.

Okay, I'm going to be the ONLY one who thinks this way, but if it were me, I'd put a big aquarium in there. They are a committment, and a hobby, but I find that my passion for design overlaps a lot with designing and upkeeping a beautiful aquarium. There are some really gorgeous, tasteful, natural ways to do it, and it's really calming to watch a school of tetras making their way around a fully-planted aquarium. They also do best in low-light areas (with their own lighting system, of course), so it would be a good spot for it, and would be a really nice thing to incorporate into a room that you go to to read and chill out.

Anyone? Anyone?

If you go with open bookcases - if they are deep enough you can have bookends facing into both areas - Otherwise I'd suggest putting the books on the floor and curios at eye level - You can stack books as well - it depends on how many books you have and how sensitive you are to clutter - perhaps every other book faces into a space - all funky and travel book spines face out into main room and all english lit or american lit face into reading nook/guest room/gallery - curtains hung as room dividers are just another layer of art in my world - cool materials that are either thick velvets of vivid colors or gauze-like transparent light diffusers. I've lived in drafty apts and an Indian sari remnant hung at the hall entry makes a great statement of color and holds heat in a room; take a second look at how some restaurants use velvet drapes to create a mini foyer/entry/layer of intimacy to rooms - if done properly it can look cool - otherwise it can look like a sheet tacked to the wall and that never looks good.

here, here, desi. i'm getting ready to do a fabric wall treatment in my bedroom, because there's a door i never use right beside my bed, and it drives me crazy to even look at it. plus, it's hard design-wise to place any object, no matter how small, in front of a door, used or not.