When we built our home, eight years ago, I was pregnant with my daughter and very sick. I didn't have the strength to make many decisions concerning the house plans, but my husband knew me well enough to ask about a reading room. Getting the room built was no easy task. The original house plans didn't call for a room directly off of the dining room so when the contractor attempted to build this small room, he wondered at it's usefulness. It wasn't as large as he expected (merely 12 x 12 I think.) He reminded Shannon several times of the difficulties of tying in a roof at certain angles. There were times I believed he really wanted us to scrap the idea. What he didn't understand was how important this room was to me.
It's the room in which I nursed and bonded with Emma. It's the room in which I study my Sunday School lessons. It's the room in which I meet with God each day to talk and to listen. It's the room I use for solitude. (I can sit and look at the ducks on the lake, my rose garden, the snow on the evergreens.) It's the room I sit in when my children play in the backyard during 90 degree summer weather and where I open up the windows, sip lemonade and watch them without interrupting their play. It's the room so many good teaching ideas and solutions to problems have been hatched. It's the room Shannon and I sneak off to when we need to talk privately. It's the room I run to when I am about to say something really stupid that I'll regret! It may not be worth the extra money we paid in windows that crank open, hard wood that takes constant care, or roofing engineering to some people, but it's worth it to me. It's my room and as you can see, it serves many purposes. Because of where's it's positioned, no one ever goes to this room unless they need to...
Everyone needs their own space.
From the outside, many think it's a sun room, and rightly so. The three window walls do allow in a lot of warm sunshine. But at a closer look, you'll find an oversized chair and ottoman along with a few of my favorite things. Such as, a few collectible Willow Tree figurines, several house plants, a lamp I've had since childhood, my Christian book collection, old Bibles, and photographs. The newest addition to my room is an electric throw which keeps my legs warm while the fan above me keeps the air circulated. (I've got this reading thing down to a science!) Complete with a hot cup of coffee, my reading room is just perfect. Oh, did I mention the french doors which separate me from the rest of the house? I'm never completely sequestered away.
The sign on the door says it all..."Mommy needs her quiet time." But when I see those little noses and hands smashed against the glass, I can't shoo them away. The room will always be there...the little hands will not. So I've always been careful not to hibernate in the reading room. It's tempting, though.
Happy Reading!
RC
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