My favorite room

"I like how clean this plate-cover keeps the microwave," I remarked to my roommate David recently as I gingerly removed my steaming left-overs from the microwave.

"Yeah, that's pretty much my favorite thing about it," he replied.

Along those lines, I thought I would feature my bedroom in tonight's post. It was designed as the study, but my two roommates and I use it as the third bedroom. At 10x12 feet, I try to arrange the furniture to maximize space. I'll comment on guiding space-saving principles, as well as my general philosophy of feng shui with each picture

In this first shot, we have the bed. A copy of my grandmother's art is hung over the bed. I use a twin-size bed for a couple reasons which I will now ennumerate: it's a big space saver over anything larger, and it's what I had anyway. I bought the curtains on clearance, and the dark fabric does a great job at blocking out light from the courtyard at night, as well as obscuring the afternoon sun on post-call days. And I know it's bad sleep hygiene, but I love reading in bed with only lamp-light, and when the time comes, turning off the lamp and drifting into peaceful slumber.

At the food of the bed, I've placed my green armchair, which has appeared in a couple earlier posts. It's coziness quotient is increased by the crocheted afghan my mom made. Behind the armchair is a compact bookcase which houses a goodly selection of reading material.

And lastly, we have the other longer wall. I bought the desk for $35 from a friend moving last spring. It's a ful five and a half feet long, but at only 20 inches deep, it saves space. The dresser is angled so that I can store my suitcases behind it since there's not enough room in my 8 square foot closet.

The best thing about the room has been its teaching me to live simply and throw out things I no longer need or have room for. And I like the simple bold colors: navy curtains, red desk chair, green armchair. And lamps.