in an ideal world my room would have space enough for a writing desk and a full bed as well as a kotatsu table for sitting on the floor and drinking tea. alas my room is just 10 by 15ft. you can't have a sitting room as well as a bedroom and a study in that space. two of three is all i can manage, and two of three is so much harder to pick than one of three. i am addtionally handicapped by the fact that one of the walls is not good for much except holding up the ceiling, as there is a built-in wardrobe all along it, and the bathroom door also opens on that side. its opposite wall has two windows so i can't really shove tall bookcases up to it nor do i want to put my bed against it. and no, i won't have low bookshelves. it's hard when you're a tall person to have a row of knee-high bookshelves running around your room. it's like going into the children's section in the library- i'd rather stand on a chair to get a book off a high shelf.

so. now. should i get a large writing desk - something woody and spacious, with lots of drawers, and a full bed. i rather look forward to having a full bed instead of a skinny dorm-sized bed. that doesn't leave much space for entertaining, which means that when i have guests they will sit on the bed. a bit like addy's room really. hard to talk face to face, i suppose, if everyone is sitting around the edges of the bed. and of course this would make it hard to serve tea - you would have nowhere steady to set down the cup. but then i do have a eating kitchen with large window i suppose we could have tea in there and while less private or comfortable it wouldn't be so unpleasant. and if anyone stays over they can sleep on the bed. we can always put a bowl of water down the centre like in liangzhu as a measure of good faith.

OR

should i have no desk at all, and only a twin bed, to be pushed up against the wall, thereby creating maximum possible floor space for a kotatsu table and lots of zabutons. i could do my work at the table while sitting on the floor, and if i have guests they would sit around the table. if anyone comes to stay i can give them the bed and use a sleeping bag. that way i will also free up one wall for bookshelves, which wall i would have had to push my desk against if i had one. i quite like the sound of this arrangement only i suppose the drawbacks are that my guests may not be as accustomed to sitting on the floor, and that i will definitely have to enforce the shoes-outside rule. i'm somewhat lax about that when i'm in the states, although for myself i still observe it most of the time. von i think doesn't observe it at all. but it'll just be impossible not to when i switch to floor seating. i just googled this and americans reportedly resent this custom. i wonder if this might become awkward. hm.

anyway, cindy has come down on the side of the large bed no kotatsu. the rest of you are invited to comment. afterall, it's most of you who will be visiting.