Lisa Tharp Design

5. Forgetting to look up Often the most-neglected surfaces in our homes are the places that are hardest to reach. After all, if you can’t see it, it’s not there, right? Wrong. For example, pendant lights and the tops of cupboards quickly collect dust. If you have a ceiling fan, that’s also likely to collect dust over the winter, so, come summer, if it’s left unattended, you’ll be fanning built-up dust all over the place. In other words, don’t forget to look up when cleaning.

Houzz readers, we can tell you’re looking for special spots to enjoy reading! A recent analysis of searches on Houzz showed there was an increased interest in relaxing reading spaces. Searches for “book nook” are up 69% this year, while searches for “reading corner” increased 45%. Whether you have so many books you need a rolling library ladder or you simply crave a place to relax with a good novel, you’ll find inspiration in these eight cozy reading rooms. 1.

“The beauty of this condo was that it had 14-foot ceilings. The challenge was that they created some unusual proportions,” interior designer Lisa Tharp says. The home is in a former university building in the heart of Boston that had just been converted to condos when Tharp’s clients hired her. Large classrooms had been divided into separate rooms, which resulted in some tall narrow spaces.