BigStock reached out to us about featuring their portfolio in our entries, and we had so much fun exploring, we wanted to share some of our favorite images. There are some seriously talented photographers at work in stock imagery.
There’s also a lot of gold to be mined when it comes to stock photos. Every month, we’ll share with you some great, beautiful, or downright silly things we’ve come across on BigStock. Beware of plot bunnies!
This month’s theme: Cozy autumn reading spots
Every great reading nook needs a pet, and I think it’s been scientifically proven that the best reading stints start with pet scritches. I’m a little worried about that cup (probably filled with coffee or tea) being perched on a bed next to a cat, but I’m not about to police this person’s reading nest!
Photo credit: Alenkasm | BigStock
I was inspired by Sarah Morgan’s beautiful “she shed” on a recent podcast episode. Can you imagine having a separate little building to get away from distractions? A little couch, maybe an electric kettle to keep you company, lots of plush blankets! I don’t know if I’d keep the treehouse vibe on this one, because if I’ve had a few glasses of wine, I’m not really feeling that ladder. How would you decorate your reading shed?
Photo credit: Mr. Smith | BigStock
It has always been a dream of mine to live in a house with a window seat. I want to be able to commune with nature without really being in nature. Open a window. Look outside. That’s really my limit. And while this looks quite relaxing, it seems the wind has blown in a heck of a lot of leaves. Perhaps she should have closed the windows a bit sooner.
Photo credit: Evgeny Atamanenko | BigStock
Now here is some window seat reading done right! You’ve got your lumbar support. No leaves blowing up into your business. Lots of natural lighting. Both Sarah and I also want to know more about the chandelier. Or wait…is it a bunch of dreamcatchers? Help us out! Props for the big stack of books. This woman is not messing around when it comes to a TBR pile!
Photo credit: Diego Cervo | BigStock
If you’re unlike me and actually like being outdoors amidst the colorful, crunchy leaves, this one’s for you! Here, you can enjoy a nice autumn breeze wrapped up on your adorable mustard-colored peacoat. What’s in your cup? Whatcha reading? Aren’t you worried about what sorts of creepy crawlies are lurking in those decaying leaves? No? Just me? Okay, then.
Photo credit: ViDi Studio | BigStock
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Where do you like to read when the temperatures cool down? Are you an inside or an outside reader?
“I want to be able to commune with nature without really being in nature. Open a window. Look outside. That’s really my limit.”
This, so much! I don’t have a window seat, but I do have a comfy armchair & footstool next to our sliding glass door. It looks out on the combined back yard of 5 houses – none of which are fenced in, all of which have trees & bushes – straight back to the wooded greenbelt at the edge of our neighborhood. It’s soothing, pretty, & gets enough sun that our cats also curl up there, so bonus cat scritches too.
I recently moved and just so happen to actually have a Bay window that I Of course had to change into a reading nook. It’s as fabulous to sit and read at as it looks.
I do love sitting out on the patio with a book and a glass of wine, but due to work, travel and rain, that has happened exactly four times since August. Yesterday I was psyched when I walked out of the office while the sun was still up and out. It was gorgeous. And 41°. If only the HOA allowed fire pits.
Failng that, a blustery day calls for curling up on my aging sofa with the afghan my grandma made 60 odd years ago and cocoa. When does shabby chic cross the line to just shabby?
@DonnaMarie: Hooray for grandmas! I have a quilt mine made about 45 years ago, using scraps from my infant/toddler clothes. It’s definitely seen better days, & since I’m in Florida it doesn’t get a lot of use, but there is nothing more comforting.
NO ONE except a crazy person is sitting in a pile of leaves in a beautiful yellow eminently stainable coat like that.
In the second reading nook picture, does she have Christmas lights wrapped around her pencil cup? That is hopelessly twee and yet…I want it.
@DonnaMarie – yes to the glass of wine!
I would love a window seat, but I won’t complain, since my windows look out on Rome. As for my favourite fall reading spot, it is anywhere in our flat, as long as I’m cuddled up with one of our cats (or even with my husband).
All these cozy posts have really put me in the mood for some cooler weather and it finally happened! With the remnants of Hurricane Michael gone, we were left with a beautiful day with NO humidity today. (I’ll pick up sticks and broken sunflowers tomorrow.)
My favorite fall reading place is the recliner in the living room. I turn on the gas logs and the dogs are at my feet or in front of the fireplace. The chair is next to a window overlooking the pasture and woods, so it a nice place to read any time of year.
P.S. I also would worry about crawly things if I sat in a pile of leaves.
I have always longed for a window seat, that seems like the epitome of a cozy reading spot.
I do think those are dreamcatchers in the one picture.
A cozy reading spot I remember very fondly, when I was in college our student union was a big, old beautiful building. They had a combination small library and bookstore in a huge room-that actually looked like it could have been a library in a manor house. They had the comfiest chairs, and I would head in between classes and either read the library books, OR read the books that were for sale (I feel kind of bad about that, but I was a starving college student) and it was so quiet and peaceful. It used to be very hard to pull away and go to class, and to be honest, sometimes I didn’t if I was really into a book. Oh, and this room also had a fireplace, just to make it that much more entrancing!
I am so here for the third picture for featuring a lady of color! I spend a lot of time looking at stock images for my job, and it’s depressing how few folks of color are shown, ESPECIALLY doing regular not-supposed-to-be-related-to-their-race things, like reading in an adorable windowseat with (yes, @cbackson, ditto) a decorated pencil cup.
Only downside is the dreamcatchers, which make my cultural appropriation eyes roll so hard it hurts a little.
My favorite reading place has yet to manifest itself, to be honest. I’m definitely a cozy girl, and will want an ottoman or couch or table for my feet. Tea is ideal.
I love to read cuddled with an animal, but my pup is too rambunctious to let me, so I read best at diners. I do love the she shed pic though. A big cup of coffee and a warm blanket and that would be ideal.
Due to allergies, inside reading is preferred.
I have a bay window. However it is at the front of the house and our neighbour’s cat likes to sun himself in our front garden, so if I sit in the bay I end up with 36kg of German Shepherd on top of me, either reminding everyone going past that he owns the pavement thank you very much or enthusiastically telling the cat to F^ck Right Off NOW. Not conducive to relaxing reading.
The cosiest place to read is in bed with the dogs curled up asleep.
Around here, it gets wet (and then snowy) when the weather cools down, so I prefer to read inside. Also, I like the look of a bay window more than I like actually trying to sit in it. I prefer a comfy recliner with a good view, a blanket, a cat, a book (or my laptop, if I’m writing), and a cup of tea.
Sitting in leaves? No way! I live in the panhandle of FL with monster centipedes and fire ants, so yard sitting is a no go for me. I like to read in bed. I no longer have any pets to cuddle with, as I lost my beloved dog last month, her sister in February and my BFF cat the year before. They were perfect reading companions. Sigh…