Home and accommodation

Q: Which room do you use most? A: Probably the kitchen, which surprised me when I actually thought about it, because I don't cook that elaborately. It's just where things tend to happen — I'll have coffee there in the morning, end up chatting to my flatmate while one of us is making dinner, work from the counter sometimes when I'm sick of my desk. The living room looks nicer in photos, but the kitchen is where the actual life of the place happens. Q: What would you change about your home? A: More natural light, without question — it faces the wrong direction and gets almost no sun in the afternoon, which I didn't think would bother me until I lived through a whole winter of it. Beyond that, I'd probably want a bit more space for books, since mine have started colonising surfaces they weren't meant to be on. Nothing drastic, just those two things. Q: Is it a good place for families? A: Reasonably, yes, though it depends what stage of family life you mean. It's close to a school and a park, which would matter a lot if there were kids around, but the building itself has thin walls, and I can hear the neighbours' television some evenings, which wouldn't be ideal with a baby that actually sleeps on a schedule. So good location, slightly imperfect building.