Nooks n’ Cubbies

Many people believe that bigger is better, leading to homes with living spaces the size of office atriums. But even in big spaces, people seem to seek cozy areas. Why is that? Must be something biological.

Below are nooks that people have created, and then other people have photographed, and more people have pinned and blogged and discussed, and here I am carrying it forward. Because I am thinking of ways to build little nooks into my home.

From Houzz:

From BHG Kitchen Bath Ideas:

There are nooks for hanging out with friends and family. This is in a restaurant in Bangkok, from Dwell:

Or this, a very different nook style from the image above, from Houzz:

Or this from Decoratrix (notice how these are all by big windows):

A nook for sharing stories of travel and intrique, from Houzz:

There are nooks for solitude. Such as this from Houzz:

And this from Katrin Arens:

If you don’t have a nook area that’s physically separate from larger rooms,  you can use a tall screen to carve a private cubby space, like this shown at Houzz:

You can’t find me? Here’s why, I’m hiding out in a cubby like this from The Lettered Cottage:

A nook for reading and solitude found at Niki Jones:

If you don’t have window seats or bay windows in your home, you can create some with built-in cabinets that frame a window, leaving a generously-deep seat to cuddle in. Such as this one shown at DigsDigs:

I am thinking of building the wardrobes in one of our India apartment bedrooms to allow a window seat, perhaps in the guest room where early morning risers can enjoy a view. House of Turquoise featured this one:

Here’s another window seat found at Purple Area:

And a miniature nook shown at Rusted Wood and possibly the New York Times which featured this home:

A small upstairs nook space found at The Decorologist:

And of course, sleeping nooks! It seems natural that humans want a safe, protected place to sleep when we’re at our most vulnerable. There are so many wonderful sleeping nooks shared online, I’ll put another post together of those. Until then, nighty night, sleep tight …