apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I would: 1. Put the desk against the wall on the left hand side as you walk in. This means you can put down any mail, keys etc., as you walk in. 2. Leave the TV bench where it is in the photo. 3. Move the 1st couch pictured as far left as it will go (remove that left hand side table). 4. Add the 2nd couch in perpendicular to the first couch looking out to the windows. So you're forming a U shape with the 2 couches and the TV bench. I would also look for a dining table that is rectangular instead of square and put it in this position (http://www.tangkoko.co.uk/images/m_brahma--crossed-legs-dining-table.jpg) behind that 2nd couch.

With a small, open plan apartment like this your options are fairly limited. Some ideas:

1. Keep the desk in the bedroom. Nothing lowers the tone of a living area like a work station covered in papers and electronics.

2. Don't get a indoor dining suite unless you really, really need one. If you only eat at the table occasionally, stick with a good quality outdoor set instead. The balacony seems very protected and you're in Los Angeles - you can eat out there most of the time.

3. Consider a built in credenza running the length of either of the long walls. This apartment has practically no storage so you'll need plenty of cupboard space for your books, DVDs, glassware, wrapping paper, candles... the list goes on.

4. Don't get two couches - they'll block off too much space. Try a single couch and a couple of Wassily chairs. They're inexpensive, classy, comfy, lightweight and take up very little space, both physically and visually.

5. Use only high quality materials and furniture. Cheap materials will make the apartment look like a dorm room.

do you by chance have the measurements? the bedroom looks to be about 10' x 11'? the living room maybe 13' x 14'?

i second the suggestion of only one couch, with a nice comfy chair or two.

if you're the type, you might consider getting a freestanding kitchen island to serve both for prep and for seating when you're not eating out on your lovely terrace. it would free up the space currently used for the table a bit and also give you more prep space.

Unless the exterior artist rendering is reversed, that's not in North America. Cars on the opposite sides of the road.

And judging by the single closet, it probably is out of the U.S.

You have no storage space. And you have the necessity of walking through the living area every single time you want to use the bathroom.

So, less is more. You really can't have a massive amount of furniture OR massive furniture in that apartment without creating chaos.

You have little counter space in the kitchen to prepare food. You have NO counter or cabinet space in the bathroom for anything.

All of that is fine if you don't have excessive belongings. But I don't even see somewhere to put extra toilet paper or store towels. Like if you run out of toilet paper, do you have to get it from the kitchen pantry???

Long before cramming in couchs for a couch potato life in front of a TV, it's imperative to address storage and supply needs.

You HAVE to address needs before wants. Will you be using the kitchen like a hotel wet bar? Or infrequently to heat something up? Or cooking from scratch? Or having dinner parties?

While guests will gladly sit on the floor with dinner, it's a lot harder to prepare foods when you have NO place to prepare them. So then you consider a kitchen island, which degaussing mentioned above. Here's a generic kitchen island site:
http://www.ekitchenislands.com/

Just browse options to think of what you will need in addition to what is in the apartment. Do you need cabinets or drawers. Do you need a pop-up table part or not? Would stools be really used, or get in the way?

Consider a wall of storage (as mentioned by blandwagon), for the wall on the right side of the apartment layout. I'm thinking something like BESTA:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/S79865155

That takes care of the TV. It also takes care of just about all the other storage you need. Those upper portions can be used for folded clothing, folded linens, and that toilet paper I mentioned earlier. LOL!

Notice what has happened, just from those two things...You lost the dining table, and you lost the right hand wall. NOBODY wants to vault over a sofa to get to any other part of the house. And there really is NOT room for a desk in the bedroom, nor do I think a desk SHOULD be in the bedroom. Sleeping is for sleeping, it would drive me nuts to have a person working away at the same time I was trying to sleep.

So, consider your absolute NEEDS before anything. And let people know what it is you NEED your space to do. If you use the kitchen like a wet bar and have little clothing, two sofas are fine, one with it's back to the kitchen area (since you wouldn't it much) and another towards the wall where the TV would be. A desk on the TV wall. A path behind the TV-facing sofa with a console table or low bookshelves.