20 Best Hideaway Reading Nooks

The holidays are stressful for introverts. Here's where you can dream of getting away.

This is a digital dreamhouse of a library that I’ve appropriated as my laptop wallpaper. I love everything about this space, right down to the coffee urn. Do you think it could be recreated in real life?

Few architectural features offer more introvert catnip than a well-appointed reading nook, especially for those of us who read compulsively, are somewhat Grinchish, have an instinctual need to hole themselves up like a cat in a lair, and experience real joy being as far from the madding crowd as possible. In other words, me.

If you’re reading this, I suspect you lean in my direction. Readers are natural introverts. It’s baked into the pie. But we mustn’t mistake introversion for misanthropy. I love spending time with the right people. It’s just that spending time with the wrong people burns through all the green in my meter. So, with that in mind, feast your eyes and your imagination on some of the best reading nooks I was able to curate for you. Even looking at them makes me happy.

First, let’s take a second to define what constitutes an ideal reading nook.

A nook should have something—a doorway, a curtain, a half-wall—to separate it from the rest of a room. I have a real love of box beds or cupboard beds, for instance. You’ve seen them, surely, in paintings from Northern Europe. They’re enclosed spaces, sometimes even armoires, that you climb into. Talk about cozy! Now, picture yourself with a good book, a cat, and a hot cup of tea.

A Mother’s Duty by Pieter de Hooch, 1658-1660, featuring the ideal cupboard bed.

Cats are essential to all this. You should have one, just for reading purposes, preferably something of a worthless, orange-y variety. Dogs are good, too, but they tend to lick your face.

Think: COZY. A good reading nook must lure you in visually, but once you get there, the space should have ample pillows and something less tip-over-y than a lap desk to put your piping hot beverage on. I don’t like reading nooks that only look inviting. I want a garden of comfort, coziness, and hedonic delights. Nooks with windows are marvelous, even though I can get easily distracted by what’s going on outside. Mostly, a nook should embody the Danish word hygge, (pronounced “hoo-gah”), which can be roughly translated to mean “creating a warm atmosphere” and enjoying the good things in life with friends and family, only in this case it would be hygge for one or maybe two at the most. More than that and you’re looking at a wingding.

What I love about this reading nook is that it’s not a traditional “nook” at all, but an invitation to cuddle up with a good book outside. Bonus points for candles and wall sconces with plants. Still needs a place to set down a beverage.

Now THIS is a real reading nook. Note the awesome use of artwork within the nook and the addition of a corner lamp. I worry that the mattress isn’t thick enough and it still needs a place to put your tea or coffee, but this has mad hygge.

No cupholder, and the mattress looks less than plush, but that view!

While it’s true that this nook is a clear invitation for others to bother you while you’re reading, it’s still gorgeous. I could spend a LOT of time here.

Not enough padding, and in the interests of full disclosure, I would never get anything done here because I’d never be able to stop staring out the window.

Here is a warm, colorful exception to my rule about enclosed spaces. This suspended nook is very hygge, and I could pass many happy hours gently swaying.

Here we have an enclosed space (mosquito netting) inside an enclosed space (the cupboard bed), which equals maximum hygge. I’d replace those silly suitcases with books, of course.

If I’d’ve had something like this when I was a kid, you never would have seen me again. Bonus points for fairy lights.

The almost Shaker-like simplicity, beauty, and functionality of this reading nook is giving me Scandinavian vibes.

Major hygge. Love the shiplap paneling, the paned windows, the textures, the view. Too bad Zuckerberg’s stupid metaverse doesn’t look like THIS.

Love, love, love this loft idea, which has enormous appeal since it’s set away from the rest of the house. I might want guardrails.

Storage, privacy, a place to set your mug … this is peak hygge.

The sheer beauty of these wall brackets makes for great visual appeal. Points deducted for lack of “lairness,” since it’s out in the open, but I sure wouldn’t say no to having one.

For use of color, you can’t beat this reading nook. I also like that it’s hidden under the stairs where no one can find you.

It’s the fireplace, of course. And the ottoman. Don’t expect to hear from me in WEEKS after I nest.

Here’s another one of these drop-dead gorgeous views. Even though there’s nowhere to put a beverage, I would settle in and never leave.

This nook comes complete with a pet. I’m pretty sure nothing in life can compete with it in terms of coziness, beauty, and functionality.

Less cozy, perhaps, but the invitation is clear: get a book, get a glass, and kick back.

Sure, I’d say I was making this thing for my kids, but we all know who I’d really be building it for, don’t we?

SCORE. It’s a cupboard, it’s plush, there’s room for a beverage and there’s hygge for days.

What are your thoughts on reading nooks? I want to hear what you have to say. Be sure to leave your comments in the comments section below.