2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44
Half of the winter is already over, but the warmth is still far away. If you want to create a cozy and warm place in your home, but at the same time you are not alien to the Japanese aesthetics, try to get a kotatsu - a traditional Japanese table, under which it is so pleasant to bask with family and friends. What kind of furniture it is, what is its specialty and where to find such a table, read below.
The kotatsu design includes a low table frame covered with a thick blanket. A tabletop is placed on top of the blanket, and under the table it turns out such a "hut", isolated from the cold.
Moreover, a heating element is placed under the table, due to which it is very warm under the kotatsu.
Initially, the function of the heating element was performed by an open hearth in the floor of the room, which was heated with coal. Later, kerosene and gas options appeared and, finally, the most popular due to safety and odorlessness - electric kotatsu.
Typically, the electric heater is located in the table frame, and all you need to do is connect the table heater to the mains, cover it with a blanket and place the countertop on top.
Physical warmth and spiritual union
Since the kotatsu is a Japanese invention, you won't need chairs for it. As you warm your feet under the kotatsu, you sit on the floor, on the zabuton pillows, any other pillow, or simply on the carpet.
You can comfortably dine at the table, work at your laptop, or chat with family and friends over a cup of tea.
Of course, only the lower part of the body is warm, but this is enough to keep warm and feel the cozy atmosphere at home.
In addition, heating works in our houses anyway, and kotatsu can be used instead of a heater on especially cold days (in Japan, the winters are warm, so you can keep warm with kotatsu without heating, but here - only in addition).
Due to the blanket, the kotatsu is much more economical than heaters that heat the air throughout the apartment - both feet are warm, comfortable, and economical.
By the way, in Japan, kotatsu is used not only in homes - there is even a kotatsu train.
As for the friendly atmosphere, will you be able to communicate with the person in a different way, actually sitting under the same blanket with him?
Sitting at the same table and hiding their legs under one warm blanket, family members or friends feel freer and closer to each other.
In addition, if you use kotatsu alone, you can crawl underneath it entirely and enjoy the warmth and cozy influence of your favorite "hut" since childhood.
And your cat will absolutely love the kotatsu.
Buy or do it yourself
Of course, it's easier to buy ready-made kotatsu with a removable lid and a heater in a frame. For example, there is a fairly large selection of kotatsu, and prices start from $ 94-99.
You can do it yourself, however, you have to buy a special heater for kotatsu, which is guaranteed not to set you on fire.
You can buy it on Ebay, for example, or. The table itself can be purchased at IKEA, for example, this one with a shelf.
The heater is screwed to the table top using fasteners, the table is covered with a blanket on top, and a removable shelf is placed on top of it. You can read more about making a table with your own hands.
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