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How to build a reading corner you actually use

Good light, a firm chair, and nothing else asking for attention.

Most reading nooks fail for the same reason: they are decorated, not designed. A beautiful chair in bad light is a photograph, not a place to read.

Start with the light. A lamp at shoulder height, warm and bright enough to read by without straining, does more than any cushion. Then a chair firm enough to keep you awake and a surface for a cup.

Leave the phone in another room. The corner works when the only thing to do in it is the thing you built it for.

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