A dear friend was discussing a possible move into a new home. She was working out how to furnish it, and would love a room devoted to her spanking interests. The problem, I guess, is what you’d do if family or friends inadvertently wandered in. “We were wondering why you need a school desk and a blackboard?” might be a tough question to answer!

My suggestion was to furnish a room in the style of a Headmaster’s study. Imagine the fun you could have finding a grand oak desk just wide enough for a girl to hold onto – reaching up on tiptoes, fingertips clutching the far side.

Leather armchairs, slightly careworn, could be angled towards the desk, awaiting parents craving news of their daughter’s progress, or over whose arms girls could be positioned. A high-backed wooden chair against the wall to one side.

Think of the old school photographs, and the slightly worn trophies handed out to victors on the sports field. The bookcases: a fair selection of volumes in Latin, I think, together with histories of famous scholarly establishments. Perhaps the Headmaster’s degree certificate, framed on the wall?

The gown hanging behind the door. A mortar board? Punishment book on the desk, or in a drawer? Would the canes be out on display, propped against the wall, or locked away?

Oh, the hours of interior design fun one could have on eBay. And all perfectly suitable to be converted back into an ordinary home office before guests arrive!