Why work against the logic of a well-designed apartment? There are plenty of badly designed apartments to live in if you want quirky.

If you must, stick a four-poster bed (with curtains) in the living room, put a sofa where the table is and use the bedroom as a dining room/study. Or you could just live in the 'cookie-cutter' as it is and express your individuality in the way you decorate or the things you say and do.

My first question to you is: why do you want to be original? I'm not sure 'being original' is an ideal aim when decorating your house. I mean, you could put your bed in your kitchen - very original - but I'm not sure that would make you happy. To make sure your home reflects 'you' (which is what I think you mean) there is much more you can look at than just the lay-out. Choose some interesting pieces of furniture, paint your walls, buy a rug or change the flooring, put up some art. And think carefully about how you use your home. What activity is important to you? When you have friends over, do you sit on your couch or at your table? Where do you prefer to read or work? Perhaps you don't need a big couch, or a dining table. You could also decide to put your bed in the living room (maybe use a room divider?) and use the spare room as your 'special room': a home cinema/small but cozy sitting room/home office/library/walk in closet. Good luck!

Get a few "signature" pieces of furniture that makes your eyes draw immediately to them. A decent table, sofa or piece of artwork on the walls. An accent wall of a "hit 'em between the eyes" patterned wallpaper or paint, and some decent light fixtures.

I live in a north facing flat, so I get zero sun in my place after 9 am. All my furniture is either white or shades of tan, cream and light brown to keep the place from looking dark and heavy. I add colours with fresh flowers and throw pillows. However, my best trick is the lighting.

I have indirect lighting (a picture light on the picture over the fireplace, hidden uplighters here and there) to cast a soft warm light in the evenings. I also have coloured LED strips hidden in the fireplace, illuminating the aquarium, and under the kickboards in the kitchen. These add a great dash of colour. They're all on timers so I don't need to go around turning them on and off (I go to bed before they turn off). IMHO, a good lighting scheme hids a multitude of sins and accents the best of what you got.

First of all, not everyone can simply choose which type of apartment they live in. It is very much up to finances and/or availability in the area where you work or study.

We have had the good fortune of having lived in quite a few quirky places and still do. We asked ourselves a question not unlike yours recently. Namely why we like our home so much and what it is we do that works [for us]. We identified one such parameter as "pretty much doing what we want and not what people expect". It sounds simple and slightly idiotic but it is something that can evolve quite a bit. If the railings on your staircase is annoying you, get rid of it (you may even save some money since you are likely to void your life insurance doing so) or if that neat looking table in the shop doesn't fit under the window, buy a good saw. A site like http://www.ikeahackers.net/ is a good example of what I mean. I guess what I am really saying, is to relax a bit on convention and act a bit more on impulse. Look for opportune solutions and go with them. With a bit of practice you will start to develop an eye for making it look good in the process. That last bit is not something you are born with. It requires practice. Developing some wood working skills as well, wouldn't be such a bad idea either.

I had this problem. I think it helps to remember the elements of design, especially texture and pattern. I spruced up my place with a fancy armchair and throw pillows for my sofa to match, a bright area rug, eye-catching curtain assemblies, an antique bureau turned into an entertainment center, and a few pieces of salvage furniture that I painted with a pop of color. I never ordered furniture through a company or catalog shopped, but I DID make sure that everything that stayed, I loved. In my opinion, poor design is something you can't stand, and something that isn't functional.

For a standard apartment this is not bad, with what look like attractive windows in the main living areas. The only slight problem area, in my view, is the 'corridor' effect created by the position of the main entrance to the left of the main living area, with no separation from it. You might want to think about how you can create an attractive entryway, screened off from the living area, and as others have suggested use your own furniture, soft furnishings and colours to your own personal taste. Good luck!

You could switch the living room/dining room aspects, put the sitting area right off the kitchen. That might be nice if your kitchen is really small, if people are over you can still interact with them while they're enjoying your living room. This would also help with the "corridor effect" the earlier poster mentioned - put the dining table closer to the windows and put a credenza or a dresser or something where the sofa is depicted in the diagram, to act as a landing strip. However, if you plan to have a tv in the living area you are probably a slave to wherever your cable outlet is, unless you run cables all over the place.

Honestly I agree with the other posters who've said that a "boring" furniture layout is the least of anyone's worries. It's the furniture and accents you put in that will make it original.

Where is the bathroom?

I totally understand your issue! My first apartment was like this...it was even furnished. Don't put your bed in the living room...that's just silly and impractical. Find some pieces that are "you". Search thrifts stores to find some one of a kind pieces. One thing you can do is add some tall bookshelves along the bulk of the main wall in your dining area to create some structural interest or your could hang some floating shelves. Another tip is to hang your curtains from floor to ceiling, this gives the allusion that ceiling are much taller like those of the architecturally interesting apartments. Plus, a coat of paint makes a HUGE difference, especially in these types of apartments. Next, ART. Art gives the home some heart. Place art any where your can. Don't forget the kitchen and the bathroom. The Finishing touches like blankets, throws, and pillows make the place cozy. Do some throw pillows with pops of colors. If your have some pink accents in the room add a hot pink throw, or if neutral are more your thing add a pop of color with some blue or bright green. This keeps the room youthful and it doesn't feel like your went to ikea and picked it all out. Most importantly, have fun and enjoy yourself.

I have had the pleasure of inhabiting several large buildings in several cities (Dallas, NYC, Chicago, Miami, Seattle).

What made each into my "home' was decorating with items that meant something to me. This could be a DIY (in my case, creating artwork) or classic/eclectic furnishings; or it could just be as simple as a childhood stuffed animal on your bed. Quirkiness is nice, but does not make a difference between a living space and your home. To do that - you have to invest in the space (time, not necessarily a ton of money), and make it your own. This is a process - it can happen as quickly or slowly as you like.

I like in a cookie cutter apartment and (I hope) have sort of managed to make it look special by collecting unique/well made pieces of furniture. I'll admit some of them are too big for the room, but so what? It makes me feel glamorous and it makes the space feel special.

Have a look here: http://bunniesandstripes.blogspot.fr/p/house-tour.html

This is something I worry about. I have furnishings with a lot of personality-- an antique camel back sofa done in teal linen upholstery, for example-- that fit in beautifully in a historic apartment I rented with wood floors and lots of gorgeous old wood trim. Because I am a young renter, I am also confined by my nearly impossible price range, and may need to move into one of those big bland modern complex apartments. I worry less about the layout-- furniture will just have to go where it fits-- than how to reconcile all my antique bohemian pieces with the dull modern architecture without looking like my decor crash landed in builderville from a gorgeous pre-war place via time machine.

If I had that apartment I would float the sofa in the middle of the living area, so the back is facing the dining area. I'd place a piece of furniture behind the sofa to serve as a side board. An Ikea Expedit (2X4) works well for this. It helps to define the two areas better, at least IMO.

Also as a young renter, be sure you truly want a large defined dining area. I found that when I entertained at home it was rarely a dining party so a small table off to the side was best for me, while my "dining area" served as an art studio/office.

Think of a cookie cutter apartment as a blank canvas. You can do anything you want with it, rather than having to conform to a space with a more specific style. You can take more risks with your decor than others reasonably can.

Furniture layout is not usually the factor that makes people say "What an 'original' room." If you want pizzazz, you can get it through color and design even if the layout is completely conventional. To avoid the cookie-cutter look, get one or two notable vintage objects instead of lots of Ikea, and provide an unmissable dose of an interesting color that is evident as soon as one enters the room.

Your paradox is that you crave originality but are acquiring it by asking for ideas to copy.

Many of us live in cookie-cutter apartments or homes in cookie-cutter subdivisions or cookie-cutter buildings in cookie-cutter neighborhoods on cookie-cutter streets. (That was fun! I couldv'e gone on, too!).

We may long for a quaint little cottage by the sea, or a quirky place in an old Victorian, or a million dollar high-rise. Me - I want them all, plus a sophisticated London pied-a-terre. But it's not gonna happen unless I win the lottery. So I'm stuck in a cookie-cutter house.

To answer your question, I think the solution lies in your decor - in your choice of furniture, textiles, art, accessories, etc. If you don't have a personal decor style, you can develop one that will set your place apart and make it unique.

Have you ever been to a home that looks quite boring and lack-luster on the outside, but when you enter - Wow! You can hardly believe your eyes as you take it all in. The colors, the style, the juxtaposition of old and new, the fabrics, the little touches here and there - it's pure eye candy and awesome. You think, "Who would have thought?"

That's what you should strive for. Embrace your cookie-cutter home and make it special.

If you're stuck with a cookie-cutter layout (which, I'm not really even sure how that's "bad," except that you know your unit is laid out the same as other units near you, and even that isn't inherently a bad thing) there's little you can do in terms of usage of the rooms. I wanted a unique look for my "cookie-cutter" place, so I bought colorful upholstered furniture and unfinished wood furniture that I could have painted to my pallette. My walls are eggshell (although I plan on having one painted as an accent wall) and my carpets are just dark tan, but they serve as neutral backgrounds for the citrus colors I've picked for furniture and wall hangings. I also made the cable guy staple the cable over to where _I_ wanted the TV, not where the fixed cable outlet would have dictated it; which made a lot of difference. My neighbors have complained that the strange placement of the cable outlet in every unit really limits furniture placement options, but I was just firm about what I wanted with the installation guy and that helped a lot.

First-world problem.

Don't try to rage against the optimal flow of the space. If you cram things in in an "original" way that doesn't really fit, people are going to see it as awkward, not interesting.

And "first world problem" is a worthless comment. You're reading a site where most of the questions are about sourcing a couch or choosing an appropriate paint color. If those questions strike you as frivolous, then you're reading the wrong site.

@ kit108: I see where you're coming from, but relative wealth of country/town/body has nothing to do with creating a meaningful place to live.

Koala: When touring apartments in ginormous complexes, use a compass to determine where the sun rises and sets and try to rent the one with the best light. Have fun rearranging furniture, and you can always repaint. Make yourself happy and your home will reflect your happiness. Also, good taste is overrated :)

I live in a cookie cutter apartment too. I don't understand a lot of the comments here.

These kind of apartments can seem really sterile especially if you can't paint or can't afford to paint (since we have a fee per sq foot to paint). If I could afford it we would do an accent wall in the main living/dining room.

We found that having a lot of plants gave the apartment life. They are along the windows in the living room. They add texture and shape and color. We also bought some pieces from thrift stores/craigslist and repainted. Good luck! Can't wait to see the results :)

If I could give you two pieces of advice, it would be "don't rush" "and don't drop huge amounts of money on furniture OR art until you feel confident that you're living in a place you don't plan to leave for a while."

I don't know how old you are, but I just turned 31 last week. I rented in a lot of different places when I was in my early twenties. Bought my first condo when I was in my mid twenties. Now I'm living in my first actual "house." And the thing is, a lot of the furniture and art I've collected in my twenties, doesn't fit in my house now. I don't just mean it doesn't "fit in." I mean it literally doesn't FIT. I've had to sell a lot of pieces (and had to take a loss in this economy) that were just too big for the space.

I have a few cool pieces that survived all the transistions through the years, but not many. One is this cool old buffet table that I bought at an auction for $15 and refinished. I get more compliments on that then all of my other "more expensive" pieces combined.

As for the "don't rush," well, I sort of have a rule for myself. I don't buy things on a whim (I've found that usually when I do that, I regret it not long after.) If I am in a thrift shop or an antique store and I spot something I like (that doesn't happen to be dirt cheap), I make myself wait to buy it. If I still feel like I can't live without it a few days later, I'll go ahead and buy it. Each and every piece that I've done this with I still have, and still love. All of the "impulse buys" over the years--the crap I bought just to "fill up my space--are gone, or soon-to-be-gone. You'll find that your style evolves as time goes by, and what might have worked in one particular space, just doesn't do it for you in the next. Don't feel pressured to buy this or get that, just because other people do. Taking your time to collect things you absolutely LOVE will totally save your wallet in the long run. And, bonus, you'll wind up with totally unique stuff that you'll love for years to come--something very original in and of itself in our "instant gratification generation."

Form follows function. Once you've figured out how you use each room, then it's easier to figure out how to make it original. If it's only you and you don't entertain much, then get four arm chairs around a table in the living room instead of a couch and loveseat. If you do entertain a lot, get the couch and loveseat or a sectional but pick a color that you love. It doesn't have to be beige/creme/brown/neutral. If you need the apartment to function traditionally, use an interesting divider between the living room and the dining area. Use a ball-baring 'curtain' that allows light to pass through or hang a 'wall' of X-mas lights between the two areas. Being original isn't about the four walls. It's about how you live. Even if you live a 'normal' life, you can use color, pattern, texture, lighting and unusual elements to make it 'original' and unique to you. Enjoy the process and your new home.

Renting in an apartment complex can be costly what with annual amenity fees, parking costs and other apparently made-up fees. The apartment rents can be high as well. I would think someone with a limited budget looking for an original space would be better off searching for something other than a cookie-cutter apartment in a large complex. Having said that, a lot of apartment complexes have programs on their websites that allow you to experiment with furniture placement so you can see what type of layout works best for you with the furniture you have. Good luck.

Mix it up to see what works. We switched our living room and dining room just to try it out, and you know what? It sucked. But at least we knew. A week later, we had everything back to normal, but were happy that we had to wonder no more. Sometimes it's not about being original, but being logical about what works.

So by all means, put your bed in the living room for a week and see if it works- why not?! As long as you have a buddy to help you move your stuff, it's a harmless experiment!

It's crazy to have a full-size dining set in a one-bedroom apartment unless you're the type of person who entertains all the time. A Parsons desk (like the West Elm one) against the wall is probably all you need. You can pull it out into the middle of the room if you want to have a sit-down dinner party, or just use it as a buffet sideboard.

Also, I'd put the sofa on the wall opposite the door. In the layout you sent, basically you open the door and see no furniture.

While im not answering ur qu really but the title of this post...The answer is ORIGINAL ART! And placement thereof. Of all colors, shapes, sizes, media, etc. Accessories really give a visitor an idea of where u have been, how u think ( Kmart cookie cutter vs. original thinker), ur level of creativity or lack thereof, what's important to u or inspires u, etc. originality can be found in choice of curtains, a single chair, shower curtains, table cloths, pillows, smells ( yes, all 5 senses are involved!), painted pots, etc. Find originality in vintage, plants, symmetry, unusual structures, this damn website, colors or icons forgotten, shiny metallics, etc. be patient, hungry, observant and the rewards will find u. It's ez to forget cookie cutter style or where furniture may lie when all u see is inspiration! Meso

I agree with michelleb on the layout, turn the sofa 90 degrees counter clockwise and float it in the center of the room facing the wall near the entry. I would place the dining table against the back of the sofa for day to day, pull it out if you need to seat more than 3 people. That gives you room at the back wall of the dining area for a desk or console or buffet or possibly a whole wall of bookcases for a library feel or to display your collections.

Look to textiles & art for color, and find a unique combination that works for you.

I would cut the "dining room" element entirely. Unless it's important that you be able to have formal dinner parties, you're probably better off combining parlour and dining space over on the kitchen-adjacent side of the main room. Get several soft-seating pieces (arm chairs, fainting couches, love seats, chesterfields, whathaveyou) and arrange them around a large, square coffee table and then add a few small side tables so everyone has somewhere to set down their drinks and plates. This frees up the other half of the main room for bookshelves (I'm a huge fan of cutting up a space with bookshelves that are placed off the wall), work surfaces, office space, &c.

I have an almost identical layout. So similar, in fact, that I briefly thought we could be neighbors. I had really wanted to do as suggested by some of the previous posters here and float the couch, but I found it closed the room off completely. I don't have people over for dinner, and I live alone, so I was fine sacrificing dining space for living area. Here's what I did:

I placed a tall bookcase on each side of the living room window, so one is in the corner across from the entry door, and one is centered on the wall between living and dining areas. To keep it from looking crooked, since the wall to the left of the window is longer than the wall to the right, just cheat your curtains out to the left a little. (I hope that makes sense.) This "extends" the living room out to the edge of the bookcase on the right, which will be basically across from the bedroom door. Then I centered the couch between the two bookcases, with the couch back to the window. I put the TV on that opposite wall that backs to the bedroom closet, but off center, so that the screen is still even with the middle of the couch. To make it feel balanced I put identical shelves side by side across the whole bottom half of the wall and created a gallery wall above. The TV screen just blends in with all the other artwork and doesn't make the wall feel too heavy on one side. I have two chairs floating opposite the couch that you walk behind when you enter. These can be turned to face the TV if guests come over, but don't close off the room like another sofa or a love seat might. Finally, I have a narrow console table along the far right wall between the door and the bookcase to use as a landing strip. For the now much smaller dining room, you can still put a breakfast bar or a small table along the far wall.

I know this is a lot to read without pictures, but my camera is down for the count. Hope it helps!

I'm a lifelong renter of apartments. I've never lived in a house other than my parents' and have been renting for 20+ years. I recently moved into a brand new building, "Cookie-Cutter" but nice, because the quirky apartment with character and a great view in Seattle on Lake Washington was full of mold and maintenance problems. I like to decorate with a lot of color and texture so it wasn't too hard to make it my own.

One note: You probably don't need a dining area. I just have a small cafe table and 2 chairs. You can use the "dining" area to extend the living room and make it feel luxurious even if you don't have money.