Editors’ Picks: Ultimate Reading Nooks

The Western Living team looks back at our favourite spaces for reading, relaxing, and quiet contemplation.

I never read more than when I’m at the cabin with friends on the Sunshine Coast—in part why I love this gorgeous cabin on Pender Island by designer Everest Lapp. (I can just picture the stack of books I’d be ready to plow through on a visit here). It’s the ultimate room with a view, paired with a window bench seat that I dreamed of owning as a kid. —Anicka Quin, Editor-in-Chief

I had fallen in love with this little space tucked into a much larger open plan. Flanked by bookshelves, an intimate little fireplace, and the most comfortable chair in the world—the Eames Lounge Chair and Ottoman—all I need is the latest release from Rizzoli to complete the inspirational experience. (From Modern Ranch in Southern Alberta) —Paul Roelofs, Art Director

My fantasy home, though it’s morphed over the years as my tastes have changed, has always had (and will always have) a window seat. There’s something so wonderful about the idea of setting up camp with a notebook or novel and a view of the world below, and this space just cements that belief. In this open-concept loft space, designers Ian McLeod and Kerry Johnson have installed a gorgeous porthole window in a wall of white-washed brick along a cozy bench of cushions—my daydreams just got an upgrade. —Associate Editor, Stacey McLachlan

Every month we publish numerous houses that I’d love to live in, but for me there’s something magical about delving back into our archives and rediscovering just how great design was back in the Western Canada day. This space is amazing for a few reasons: it’s from 1961, it’s in New Westminster (which is becoming a hotbed of design again with the recent influx of Vancouverites) and I can totally imagine myself sauntering out of my master bedroom through the sliding glass door to my little daybed and tucking into the latest John Updike tome while my water feature quietly burbled. And then having a drink at 10:30 in the morning if I felt like it. Here’s to the good ol’ days. —Neal McLennan, Food and Travel Editor

Born and raised in Salmon Arm, I essentially grew up on the lake. Every summer since life began has been spent swimming, fishing off the dock, and most of all reading while looking out over the Shuswap. That’s why I love this peaceful corner window, open to the water and undeveloped hillside in Jeremy Sturgess’s Kootenay Lake home. The rest of this mansion-sized “cabin” boasts staggeringly high ceilings and expansive open-concept interiors, but I appreciate how the architect still included a cozy and intimate reading nook, perfect for quiet time and daydreaming. —Julia Dilworth, Staff WriterI want to wake up to this every morning. It’s like a visual massage treatment, I would be so zen and relaxed that I would never get anything accomplished! (See the rest of the Eppich House here.) —Jenny Reed, Assistant Art Director