A sweet little reading nook

It's not as if my kids don't have anywhere to sit down and read a book. I mean, kids will sit anywhere. In the aisle of a toy store. My closet. The bathroom floor. You get the drift.

But when you want them to love reading, I think it's important to create a special place for them to sit comfortably with a book. It was in that spirit that we created a sweet little reading nook last week.

Previously, the carpeted area stood empty, a sunny place for us to do puzzles or play with Legos.

As you can see, my kids' new reading nook is right below the new little art wall I just wrote about here. Actually, it was the new art that inspired me to create this little reading spot for my kids. They enjoyed looking at the colorful new artwork so much that they wanted to put the paintings in their rooms. Instead, I proposed keeping these paintings in the family room to designate their own corner of the room for reading or whatever they feel like doing.

The best part is that I didn't go out and buy anything. The wicker chair had been looking for a good home after I bought it at a thrift store a couple of months ago for $3; the Anthropologie rug (a steal on Ebay a couple years ago) was moved over from another area of our house; the basket holding the books cost 35 cents at another thrift store; and the Bla Bla pillow pal has always been in my daughter's room, usually on her bed. Somehow, everything came together as if each piece had somehow been destined for this spot all along.

(By the way, please ignore those yucky looking child-proofing foam pads on the table in front of the window, but we've had a ridiculous amount of eye injuries from kids running into tables. And no, not while reading books!)

I am blessed with children who do seem to love reading as much as I do so they immediately began using their little nook.

They don't always sit in the little chair, but I'm thinking that merely having a chair there is like an invitation to slow down, pause and grab a book.

Really, it's quite simple to create a reading nook. All it takes is a little chair (or something soft to rest on as shown here) and a container for books. The rest of decorative touches are optional, but certainly do make the reading nook more inviting and cozy.

Remember, to see more reading nooks, click on the "kids' nooks" tab on the upper right or just click here.

Thrifting find of the week

I know musty old books don't usually qualify as the most exciting buy, but before you scroll on let me tell you why these brittle tomes so captivate me.



For starters, I paid a grand total of $2 for the set. The tiny eight-piece collection of the "Masterpieces of the World's Best Literature" was published in 1905. Yup, you read right. 1905. Hence, the tattered covers and yellowed pages.

What little gems they are. I can't help but wonder who bought the set way back then, and if they sat on a shelf or were lovingly read.

Here, I placed them next to a miniature typewriter I found long ago at an antique shop, so it's hard to tell that the books themselves are small, about the size of my hand.

Truly, I don't care that the bindings are loose and some of the pages look on the verge of falling out, but I am actually reading from some of the volumes. Very carefully, of course. Some of you may remember me waxing on about my life-long love for literature so, of course, these had to go home with me. Especially at 25 cents for each book. Unbelievable!

And if you haven't noticed, I wanted to let you know about a feature on my sidebar titled, "Thrifting treasure of the week," where I showcase a favorite thrift find each week. I decided this week to move it up higher in my sidebar. Here are a few past finds, in case you missed them.

Vintage toy sewing machine and old how-to sewing books.

A Mexican trunk.

Vintage educational toys

Vintage globes

Before I forget, be sure to stop by Thrifted Treasure, one of my favorite thrifting blogs, sometime over the weekend to enter a giveaway of The Nest Home Design Handbook.

Literary pleasures: a feast for the soul

The crowds thronging the Los Angeles Times Book Festival at UCLA seem to get thicker every year. Or perhaps it seems that way when you're trying to navigate your way through thousands of people while pushing a stroller.

More than 130,000 people attended this year's event, but not even the crowds or traffic can deter me from rounding up my husband and two kids each year to head out to this literary bookfest that features more than books, as you can see in the photos I took last weekend.



The Nuevo Cielo folkloric dance group was a definite highlight of the event for my kids, who were mesmerized as they watched the young dancers and singers swirling around the stage in their colorful costumes while making beautiful music.

Other highlights of this year's event:

Though there were plenty of celebrities on hand, Eric Carle's Hungry Caterpillar held his own, with a long line of kids and parents constantly waiting to take their picture with him.

Book-lovers were invited to write on a wall mural titled "What are you reading?" A computer took snapshots of people while recording the names of the books.

Toward the end of the weekend, only the very top of the "grafitti wall" remained blank.

Sadly, very few attended the readings held at the poetry stage.

Yes, we'll likely return next year, despite the crowds.

A $5 table transformed

In recent months, I've noticed that I've done less and less work in my home office. As much as I've done to make the room a colorful and inviting place to work, I simply don't spend much time in there because it's not a place where my two young kids can play without getting bored quickly. I knew I needed to add a few more things to make the room inviting for my kids, too. To the rescue: a $5 table bought at a thrift store that I converted into a place where my kids can play and create their own arts and crafts.


The best part for me? I decided to write some passages from a Pippi Longstocking book on the table, as a sweet introduction for my kids to one of my favorite fictional characters.

I was waiting for the "perfect" antique or vintage table to show up someplace cheap, but my urge to get back into my office soon won out. Honestly, I thought the used Ikea LÄTT table at five dollars was a bit pricey but it was perfect for my needs.


Before: Here is the table when I brought it home.


Here is the table after I sanded it lightly and painted it with primer. I'm normally inclined towards lots of color, but the white primer in this case looked quite soothing so I decided to paint the table white instead of a bright color, as I originally planned.


I considered decoupaging the top of the table with a collage of Amy Butler stationery sheets I have.


Instead, I fell in love with this gift wrap paper I bought long ago for a special gift or project. These were the paints I originally considered for the table.


Here's the finished table. In the end, I painted the inside of the table legs a bright pink color to add some pizazz and so that the lettering would stand out more. I paired the table with a kids' vintage bistro chair I bought before my daughter was born and a little stepstool we use as a bench.


Here is the lettering up close. To save time, I painted the lettering directly on the table without measuring (!!) or writing in pencil first and the table is less than perfect as a result, but I'm happy with the overall look.


When he saw the table, my four-year-old son asked me to read the words. He giggled uproariously when he heard this phrase ("She tossed the pancake halfway up to the ceiling.") and wanted to hear more, so he reached over for the book and asked me to read to him. Perhaps he's another Pippi fan in the making? I've got my fingers crossed!

Now, I'm working on rearranging some shelfs, probably adding some art supplies and a few building toys for my kids.


By the way, the little bookshelf full of kids' books that is standing against those closet doors was destined for a garage sale, since I've had it for a while and hadn't found a place for it. Its new home works for now since I rarely open that closet but it is quite easy to move around if I need to do so.


Here's what my office now looks like, the red chalkboard and kids' sitting area hopefully creating an enticing and entertaining area for my kids so we can all work and play together happily.

The sounds of poetry in our home

One of the most well-thumbed books in our house these days is one I never would have guessed would entertain my kids so well even when I bought the book a few weeks ago.


Seeing the illustration of the little girl dressed up as a bumblebee inspired my daughter to go find her bee antenna.

"Poetry Speaks to Children" and its accompanying CD has become a favorite request at our kitchen table for one simple reason. My kids (ages two and four) love listening to the various forms of storytelling on the CD. With 34 poets reading their work, there are plenty of different voices and stories to catch my kids' interest.


My kids are always most receptive to sitting still while it's still early in the morning.

I first bought the book at a thrift store for five dollars, which I considered a bargain since the book and CD looked brand new. I figured I might end up listening to it by myself since most days I can barely get my kids to sit still long enough to finish a meal.

But I have found that if I bring poetry out of the books, my kids will sit and listen, at least for a few minutes and sometimes even longer. Some of you may remember how my kids and I packed our "poetry in a suitcase" last spring, an idea we got from children's author Janet S. Wong (who I interviewed here and who reads a poem in "Poetry Speaks to Children.")


Our poetry suitcase, which we decoupaged on the outside with my kids' artwork and on the inside with Eric Carle artwork from ads for the Los Angeles Times Book Festival.

We continue to take out our suitcase every once in a while but, frankly, we were ready for a fresh approach to our poetry reading, especially since my kids are so young and are always interested in the newest toy in the house.


My kids, "reading" the poetry book together

"Poetry Speaks to Children" is an entertaining read with wonderful illustrations and the CD makes the words come alive as each poet's voice fills our home with a wide range of poetry, everything from Maxine Kumin's "Sneeze" to "My Sister Saw a Dinosaur" by children's poet laureate Mary Ann Hoberman to "Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening" by Robert Frost.
You can imagine my surprise one recent morning when, still wiping the sleep from my eyes, my son ran up to me with poetry book in hand and said, "I want to listen to this, mama!"

"Huh?" was my less-than-eloquent answer as I realized that drinking coffee was going to have to wait a few minutes that morning. "OK."

Who would've known that my kids would one day be more enthusiastic about poetry than I?

apartamento magazine, an enchanting interiors magazine with heart

Prepare to be enchanted if you are lucky enough to come across a copy of "apartmento" magazine.



I had never heard of the magazine before this weekend but stumbled upon their fourth issue at a Barnes and Noble about an hour from my home. I was about to walk away from the magazine stacks, happy with an issue of Marie Claire Idees tucked under my arm, when I suddenly saw apartamento, with its enticing tag line of "an everyday life interiors magazine." I was slightly surprised to see the magazine peeking out from the section brimming with literary magazines.

I shouldn't have been. Apartamento is definitely a literary magazine at its core, offering readers satisfying essays, musings and artwork on both mundane and life-changing topics. But its focus is quite defined: how and why we live the way we do.

Of course, most of us obsessed with decor aren't really so much interested in creating a home with expensive goods but more with creating a comfortable home that tells our story. Apartmento delves into this area, ripe for the telling with writings and photography of homes of people from various countries.

The cover of issue #04 features a watercolor by Argentine artist Grillo Demo, whose paintings of interiors are amply included.

The current issue also includes a dose of celebrity with an essay on "New York" by actress Chloe Sevigny, who writes "I always ask the cabbies to take a bridge into Manhattan instead of the tunnels so I can enter the belly of the beast from the best vantage points."



I love seeing real-life homes via Flickr and blogs, but I'm often left wanting to ask so many questions about the home. apartamento offers the best of both worlds with essays accompanying much of the interiors photography. The photo below is of a home belonging to a couple whose decorating style has evolved from a rigid adherence to a 60s style to a more relaxed and true-to-self style.



By far, my favorite part of the current issue was a short but sweet essay by artist and designer Geoff McFetridge on why he enjoys making things for his six-year-old daughter. He writes "simple, improvised, handmade, mindless things made in the spirit of fun for someone I love."

apartamento elevates the everyday living and turns it into artwork by capturing those moments with beautiful words and images.



apartamento, based in Spain, features work from contributors worldwide and is available at limited locations, including some Barnes and Noble bookstores and Urban Outfitters in the United States. You can look at more photos from the magazine and take a peek at Issue No. 3 here.

The dreamiest kids' bookcase

As it turns out, interior designer Kelly Wearstler and I do have something in common.

Yes, I know she's a designer best known for extravagant designs of hotels and resorts worldwide and judge on Bravo Network's "Top Design" show. But this famous mom of two boys and I share a similar concern: how best to store our kids' burgeoning book collections.

Her solution was featured in the November 2009 issue of Cookie magazine:



She writes that her kids books, about 500 in all, "used to be all piled up on one another." Hey, I guess the famous and not-so-famous don't live so differently after all since you are likely to see piles and piles of books everywhere around my house, most of them kids' books that I leave lying around everywhere to entice my kids to read whenever they feel like it. We actually do own about the same amount of kids' books as the Wearstler family since I'm such a book-lover, but most of the books are thrifted and many of them are vintage.

I fell in love with the kids' library in Wearstler's home for its modern simplicity. As Wearstler herself notes, the mini-library is a concept that can be replicated in smaller fashion. Think about it. Just a couple of long ledges with a lip to hold the books in could hold a week's (or month's) worth of reads for the kiddo(s).

Hmmm.....my hubby may be glad this is the last issue of Cookie magazine (I'm certainly not, but that's fodder for another post!) when he hears I've got yet another idea for revamping another corner of our home!

My secret reading nook

Cooler weather always sends me scurrying to my books and magazines with a mug of tea or hot chocolate. Living with two little ones, this doesn't happen often so I must steal little moments to read here and there. At the kitchen table while my son is in the bathroom. On the couch in the family room while both kids are occupied watching the weekly trash pickup in front of our home. In the car while waiting to pick up my son from school. You get the gist.

Then, there are the times I retreat to my "secret" reading nook:



Ah, those wonderful moments of luxury when I get to stretch out my legs on the ottoman with a magazine splayed out in front of me or a book propped open on my knees.

Don't get me wrong. It's not like no one knows my reading nook exists. After all, it's right next to my bed, where I rarely read these days for fear of falling asleep.

But my secret reading nook is the place where I secretly stow away for 10 or 15 minutes, or more, if I can wing it, by myself, while my husband watches the kids. Sometimes, I just need to decompress for a few minutes. Or sometimes I'm in need of a little inspiration.



My lovingly chipped two-level table is great for organizing my current books and magazines. I bought it for $20 through Craigslist from a woman who was emptying out her West Hollywood apartment for a new life in Hawaii. She was taking a chance at love, she told me, moving in with a boyfriend. Maybe it's because I'm used to asking many questions as a journalist, but one of my favorite parts about Craigslisting is hearing people's stories. Upon hearing this woman's story, I hugged her and wished her well.

Anyway, this woman very sweetly provided me with an almost full can of paint she had left over so I could retouch the table. But I took the paint home and realized I loved the table as is, the chips reminding me that this table once belonged to a dreamer and it is precisely what I aspire to be on my best days.

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Here is a view of the table from above. Now, you can really see those paint chips and what I use when I occasionally try to entice my kids into joining me for some quiet time.



It makes me happy to see these paintings when I wake up each morning and provide the perfect backdrop for my reading nook. I bought each one at a different antique shop, fairly inexpensively.



Here's my view from my reading corner, though, honestly, I'm not usually paying much atttention to anything else but a book or magazine when I finally have a few minutes to settle into this cozy nook.