A book nook for the imaginative
Our primary residence has been a 2 bedroom apartment in Manhattan since my boys have been born and they have always shared a room. When we come out to our house on Long Island, where they have the option of having their own rooms, they choose to sleep together.
This year, Gavin started asking if he could have his own room. I told him, if he’s going to make his bed every morning, then no problem. Well that suggestion went out the window so he’s back upstairs sleeping in a bunk bed with Luke again.
Since the kids have totally aged out of their room, I thought it would be nice to give it a makeover. When it comes to home design, I don’t do anything without my uber talented friend Lisa of Abaca Interiors. I told Lisa I wanted to make the “nook” in their room (where the ceilings and walls are slanted) into a cozy book nook where the kids could read and hang out. Since Crafty Maggie has been busy this summer painting murals all over her apartment I thought it would be cool to partner with her and have her come up with a beautiful design for the nook. Lisa loved the idea and worked with Maggie to make magic…
Sherwin Williams gifted us paint in the color palette that Maggie + Lisa settled on and Maggie got to work on the room which took her about 3 days to paint. Natalie assisted as they taped off the pattern to paint within. For the rest of the room, Lisa had the walls painted white and Maggie painted the trim all over the room in black to highlight the geometry of the room ala artists David hicks + Miles Redd.
To create a cozy space with this nook, we added a soft as ever shaggy rug, and a velvet daybed from Urban Outfitters which fit perfectly into the nook along with tons of pillows and of course Luke’s adorable stuffed Lion (who he named Gummy Bear).
Additionally, we got the boys new comforters from Pottery Barn Teen that are so soft, I may just steal them.
The kids have a dresser that I bought 100 years ago from Pottery Barn and love so Lisa worked around it by adding a new piece of art above which Gavin worked with Lisa to choose. I made sure Gavin was included in all decisions for this room along the way as he takes great pride in his space and our home. To tie the colors from the art and mural painted in the nook, Lisa found this fabulous table lamp to put on the boys dresser.
To store all of the kids books and toys, we got bookshelves, bins and an LED lightening bolt that I’m totally obsessed with.
Lisa sourced a super cool Supreme throw blanket to go on top of Luke’s bottom bunk so perfectly fit for my boys because they are obsessed with the Supreme brand and have their stickers all over their computers.
The last component to the room was the ceiling fan. The fan that was in there came with our house which is now almost 11 years old so I really wanted an update. Lisa found this super modern, gorgeous steel fan that I just love.
I’m so thrilled with how their room turned out and more importantly…the boys LOVE it. They are using the nook to snuggle in and I am optimistic that one day…they’ll crack open a book in there.
