The Importsnce of Good Reading Furniture

As any reader knows, it is extremely important to have at least one comfortable place to read in the house. My favorite place to read is in bed, it feels so private but luxurious at the same time. But I can't always read in bed so it becomes imperative to have an alternate reading location (ARL). Because my husband and I are both readers, our furniture criteria tend to be similar. The defining question when buying something new is "Is it comfortable for reading?" It can be perfect in every way, but if we can't be comfortable reading on it, then it stays at the store. It isn't always easy to find appropriate furniture. Levenger has beautiful pieces but having not yet won the lottery all I can do is drool. And even if you think you have brought home the perfect chair (or sofa) you may discover you were wrong. Our sofa was bought as an ARL and it truly is a fabulous sofa for reading. It was cozy with me, my beloved and the purring cat. When the family grew by a dog, the sofa became too crowded and lost it's charm as an ARL. And that's how the chair, like you find in the big bookstores, large and overstuffed and sporting cushiony arms that begged me to throw my legs over the side, came into our lives. I have sat in these chairs in the bookstores many times and thought, "Oh wouldn't it be heavenly to have one of these at home?" These chairs are comfortable in the bookstores only. What we thought would be the perfect ARL, turned out to be a back killer, even with extra pillows. So when a coworker had a rocking chair she wanted to give away for free I snapped it up. It happens to be one of those low-slung Swedish rocking chairs. It's comfortable enough but did not achieve ARL status. Defeated, I gave up, decided to make due. Sure, once in a while my husband and I would go out and look at furniture but nothing ever suited our budget or our taste. I focused on creating a red room get away--desk, bookshelves--a cozy room of my own. All it needs is a good reading chair. Last summer Ikea came to town. We rushed over with the rest of Minnesota. But no reading chair. That is until this past weekend when I found the red chaise. It was delivered this morning. It is in my living room waiting to be assembled (in case you are not familiar with Ikea, all furniture comes with "some assembly required" with some items needing more assembly than others). I've been fantasizing since I bought it Sunday about the perfect pillows to place on it and about the hours I will spend reclining on the chaise with those pillows while reading book after book from my TBR pile. Will this come true? Have I found the perfect ARL? There is only some assembly required before I find out for sure. Stay tuned...