Question: I’m buying the unit above my condo and would like to install a spiral staircase to save room. Everyone I know warns me that spiral staircases are huge pains. Do you agree?

Answer: Spiral staircases do indeed have their drawbacks. They can be uncomfortable to climb, create a weird, useless space behind them and make moving anything up or down an ordeal. Since you’re combining apartments, you presumably have an entry door from the corridor at each level and can disregard that third point. But lack of comfort is still the killer.

As for the potential space savings, a caveat: While some spiral stair kits are available with diameters as small as 42 inches, that’s a tight space through which to squeeze a body as you wind around a central newel post. Commodious spiral stairs tend to be more like 60 inches in diameter — but you’ll still find each tread narrowing to a sliver at the newel.

Q: For a while, I was a Marie Kondo disciple, but now I find myself regretting getting rid of so much stuff so suddenly. Her book “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up” actually has a chapter forbidding altering the method! How do we moderate between clutter and clear-cutting?

A: If you’re thinking about switching home organizational handbooks, Margareta Magnusson’s “The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning: How to Free Yourself and Your Family From a Lifetime of Clutter,” is, well, gentler. While Kondo asks you to ponder what you want to bring into the future, Magnusson’s message is about paring down as you go (and go); she cheerily advises taking time to sort through possessions even as she raises the specter of mortality. Kondo doesn’t want anyone ever picking through your castaways; Magnusson lets you regift.

Q: I have a Knoll chair designed by Jens Risom whose woven cotton webbing — the main seating element — is soiled. Cleaning experts say they’re concerned that the solvents will discolor the material. Any suggestions?

A: Cleaning old fabric is a tricky business. But depending on the severity and age of the stains, you could try a mild cleaner like Folex — first testing it on the chair’s underside, to make sure it doesn’t alter the color.

Q: I am considering a sofa pit but worry about the ease of getting in and out, the awkwardness of asking guests to jump in, and the possibility that it will overwhelm the room. What do you think?

A: In my view, sofa pits raise one important question: Why not just watch TV in bed? However, I understand that when guests come for movie or game night, lounging in the bedroom isn’t an option.

You can mitigate the awkwardness by using a sectional sofa pit and making sure that the ottoman or ottomans are on wheels, or lightweight enough to be moved around easily. Since the ottomans basically replace a coffee table, it’s a good idea to have drink trays that can rest on top. Also, consider using pullup side tables, like West Elm’s Charley C-Side Table (from $159). But take care that whatever table you pick clears the height of the sofa.

In terms of scale, a good rule of thumb is to match the size of the sofa pit to the area that would be collectively consumed by a regular sofa, coffee table and easy chairs. If it still seems too monolithic covering the “sofa” and “ottoman” portions in different, complementary fabrics will break up the scale.

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