I’m moving into this apartment next month and it has a somewhat small living/dining area. So like what any other engineer would do I modeled the whole thing up and tried to see if I could make the space work. In the picture I currently only own the TV and the dining room table, so I want to get the plan down before I purchase the rest of the furniture. What do you guys think of my design?

When you rent you can not hang your flat screen on the wall. There is a huge penalty for refurbishment fee. The dresser at the corner is awkward because you can not slide the drawers out due to the side of your sofa is in the way. The living space is not good for furnishing layout because there is no TV wall other than above the fireplace. You have to choose an “L” sofa with an opened back so you would not be walking to the back of a sofa as you enter into the living room but this piece of furniture is not practical when you move to another location. The space between the living and dining is wasted and no furniture fits there. The window at the dining area forces the table location too close to the wall so I suggest moving the table away from the centerline of the window toward the living area to fill up the vast space between the two.

Bad room dimension and window locations limit your furnishing layout. They are very important things to look for when you purchase a home. Dimension of 14’-16’ is an optimun dimesion for living. Anything things less or more is deficient or wasteful. The same applies to dining area as well and 12’ is sufficient and the window should be at the midpoint of 12’ thus the center line of window must be 6’ from the corner of the wall as illustrated in your model.

Bad room dimension, window location, Fireplace placement, and entry point to the living area ruined most possibilities of a good furnishing layout.

The TV mount has been “okayed” by the leasing office, so no worries there.

Good point on moving the dresser, which is supposed to be a TV cabinet for playstations, wii’s and the like. I’ll prolly switch it when I get home today.

The living room is 13x14 and the dining room is 6x11.

What do you think about turning the dining table 90 degrees? It would extend it out taking up some of the space between the dining and living. Also, it would allow easier access to the sliding glass door by the table.

Also, this is IAC property so even though they said the TV mount would be okay, I can imagine them still charging me at move out.

Small holes are pretty hard to detect once filled, even if the wall is textured.  Worst case, you may need to buy a pint of color-matched paint.  I’ve never had an inspector find the holes I made and filled in any rental.  Is the TV mounting surface drywall over cripple studs?

What’s a cripple stud? I just bought the mount and figured my Dad would be able to figure it out when he helped me move in.

Cripple studs are short pieces used to give continuity to large breaks in a wall structure, most often used between the headers on doors and windows and the top plate of the wall, and between window sills and bottom plates. 

Good to have a good idea of the structure before hanging a heavy, expensive appliance on it.  You don’t want to rely only on drywall to carry the weight, and you may not want to be drilling through steel or concrete.  Obviously a fireplace needs more than just a wood frame structure and drywall! 

upperlowerclass - 20 August 2008 10:06 AM

Also, this is IAC property so even though they said the TV mount would be okay, I can imagine them still charging me at move out.

IAC has a fireplace in their spec? very odd? must be an older property.

It was originally planned to be condos, then the Irvine company changed their minds at the last minute. Might explain the fireplace.

New config… any better?

upperlowerclass - 24 August 2008 01:28 PM

New config… any better?

The seating arrangement isn’t ideal for viewing the TV.  We like to have our seat directly in front of the TV.  Otherwise, you’ll end up with a neck ache. 
 
The seating arrangement is fine for a conversation area - but not for watching TV.

Is that a mirror behind the large sofa?  How about having the TV there and have the sofa where the loveseat is right now.    Also, you can have bench seatings next to both sides of the fireplace (where you have the game console and the glass console table) for extra seatings.  Alternatively, use Ottoman instead of coffee table.  That will provide extra seatings.   

This way, you don’t have to buy a set of large sofa and a matching loveseat if space is limited.

Your design is very lovely….. I like it….
furniture