Nearly every small home has one: the corner that does nothing. It holds the ironing board, a plant that is quietly giving up, and a bag of things waiting to go to the charity shop. With a bit of thought, that same corner can become the best seat in the house — the place you drift towards at four o'clock on a grey afternoon with a mug of tea and a paperback.

The good news is that a reading corner needs very little room. A square metre is generous; you can manage with less if you choose carefully. What it does need is comfort, warm light and a clear floor. Get those three things right and the corner will earn its place in the smallest of flats.

Begin by choosing the corner itself

Before you buy anything, stand in the space and think about how you actually move through the room. A reading corner works best away from the main path between the door, the sofa and the kitchen. You want somewhere you can settle without feeling as though you are in the way, and without being startled every time someone walks past.

A spot near a window is lovely, but check the light at the times you are most likely to sit there. South-facing glass can be uncomfortably bright at midday and chilly after dark, so a corner that catches gentler morning or late-afternoon light is often the better choice. Being within reach of a radiator is a bonus in winter; being directly beside one is not, as you will cook one shoulder and freeze the other.

If the only available corner is a dark one, do not dismiss it. Good lamplight will do more for a dim corner than daylight ever will.

Start with the chair, not the cushions

The chair matters more than everything else combined. Cushions and throws are the easy, enjoyable part, but if the seat is wrong you will not use it, however pretty it looks.

Sit in the chair properly before you commit — for at least twenty minutes, ideally with a book in your hand. Look for:

• Seat height of around 40 to 45 centimetres, so your feet rest flat on the floor rather than dangling.
• A seat depth that lets your back touch the backrest without pressing behind your knees.
• Arms that support your forearms as you hold a book, and that you can push against to stand up.
• A backrest high enough to rest your head when you inevitably nod off.

Angle the chair slightly, perhaps fifteen or twenty degrees off the wall, rather than pushing it flat against it. This small turn makes the corner feel like a deliberate space rather than a chair that has been parked. If there is room, a small footstool makes a huge difference to how long you can comfortably sit — choose one with a hinged lid and it will also swallow a spare blanket.

Light that makes you want to linger

Overhead lighting flattens a room and casts shadows over your page. A reading corner wants a pool of warm light instead. A slim floor lamp with an adjustable arm, or a table lamp on a side table, is ideal.

Look for a warm white bulb — somewhere around 2700K — and something in the region of 400 to 600 lumens. Position the shade so the light falls over your shoulder and onto the page, not into your eyes. If you can, choose a bulb you can dim, or plug the lamp into a timer so the corner is softly lit when you come in rather than dark until you fumble for a switch.

A small second light, such as a candle in a glass or a string of warm fairy lights along a shelf, stops the corner feeling gloomy from the other side of the room. Just make sure you can switch your main lamp on and off without getting up.

The slim side table and what lives on it

A bulky table will swallow a small corner. Look for something narrow — roughly 40 centimetres wide and no more than 35 centimetres deep — with a top at about the height of your chair arm, usually 60 to 65 centimetres from the floor. A C-shaped table that slides over the chair arm works beautifully in tight spots, as does a nesting table you can tuck away when it is not needed.

Keep the surface almost empty. Three or four useful things is plenty: a coaster, a small dish for your glasses, the book you are currently reading, and perhaps a hand cream or a notebook. Anything else belongs underneath, on a lower shelf or in a drawer.

If your lamp lives on the table, run the cable down the back of the chair leg and along the skirting board. Taping it neatly out of sight takes five minutes and makes the whole corner feel calmer.

Baskets, throws and keeping the floor clear

A basket is the quiet hero of a small reading corner. Choose one roughly 40 centimetres tall with a lid or a handle, and tuck it beside or slightly behind the chair. Into it goes one wool or cotton throw — two at most — plus your slippers and any magazines you are saving. If floor space is genuinely tight, a fabric storage bag hung over the back of the chair does the same job.

Then, and this matters more than it sounds: keep the floor clear. In a small room, visible floor is what makes the space feel generous. Nothing kills the pleasure of a reading corner faster than tripping over a stack of paperbacks on your way to the chair. A slim magazine file or a single shelf above head height will hold your reading pile without eating into the room.

Small seasonal shifts to keep it fresh

Once the bones of the corner are right, you can change its mood with two or three things rather than a whole overhaul. In summer, swap the wool throw for a light cotton one and put a single stem in a small vase on the table. In autumn, add a sheepskin over the chair back and a candle. In winter, bring out a hot water bottle with a knitted cover and the thickest blanket you own.

Keep a little tray or shallow bowl for the small things that accumulate — a pen, a hairband, a stray receipt — and empty it once a week. Notice what you actually use and quietly move on what you are merely shifting from surface to surface. A reading corner should ask nothing of you but to sit down, and when it is working, that is exactly what you will do.