Q I’m a trainee architect searching for a desk. I want to invest in a piece I’ll have for years to come and would favour one with a single long drawer, rather than a pedestal stack, so that it could later do service as a side or console table. For something special – say, Jean Prouvé’s Compas desk – I’d be prepared to pay a bit more.

A Well, I’m with you on the Compas desk – it is stunningly beautiful, and the £1,963 price (from DesignShop UK, www.designshop.uk.com) is high but not as hi-di-hi as some other swankier designs I could name. However, it offers no storage whatsoever – merely an austerely serene surface that is usually the preserve of chief execs who have secretaries to cope with the mess.

If you really love it and need some storage, you could always buy a moveable set of drawers. Muji’s see-through ones are attractive (see www.mujionline.co.uk for a selection, from £4.95) or you could wheel a Bobby trolley – £304 from Perfect Concept Solutions (www.perfectconcepts.co.uk) – beneath.

A desk certainly is a forever piece. Blu Dot’s Desk 51 is named after Area 51, the Nevada military base beloved of UFO conspiracy theorists because its designers thought it looked a bit “alienish”. It is a streamlined piece of design that would fit into the sort of decorative scheme I imagine you’re after. Available in ivory or tomato red, it costs $699 (about £420) and can be shipped to the UK (www.bludot.com).

Then there’s the Albini desk by Franco Albini for Knoll. In clear glass with two drawers underneath, its clean lines are much loved by designers. It is priced £2,085 from Aram Store (www.aram.co.uk).

And what sort of desk do I have? I must admit to having lived happily for years with a beautiful plain wood top sitting on a pair of chrome trestles bought very inexpensively from Habitat.

Send your questions about modern living to ask.lucia@thetimes.co.uk

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