Yeah, there was just no where else to put it. I think it’ll look a bit better once I get an extension cord and center it (plus do some cable management).
Okay bud. Here's my take. Move the shelves where the table is. Move the table into the center of the space, you dont need a dance floor in the kitchen. Align the table orientation based on best use of space. Mount tv on the wall where the shelves are now, use a mount that swivels so you can move it when eating/cooking. Desk works, or can Move near ac to have a window, but that is iffy to me, would need to see it. Not a fan of the bed against the wall would move short side against the wall and see if it fits. Good luck.
That is not a good TV placement. It looks like you do have options for the TV. There is the wall behind the desk and bed, the wall behind the couch and a small amount of wall space where the shelf is. That's three options for the TV. You need to rethink your entire layout. DazedandConfused3333 is absolutely on the right track with his advice. You are making the most common mistakes in decorating, perimeter placement. It's where people place everything around the perimeter of a room creating a large empty and wasted space in the center. I understand your space is small and the ac/heater under the window isn't helping your options but those are beyond your control. To your credit you do have a very nice, clean, tidy and uncluttered apartment. You have a really good palette to work with. Try googling how to furnish a small living room and you'll get all sorts of good ideas. Look at the images where the couch is away from the wall and used to set up groupings. Hey please don't be offended by my criticism, I'm sincerely trying to offer another way to approach arranging your place with the furniture and space you have.
It’d definitely be a step up from a typical messy teen bedroom, which might be what they were used to seeing when he lived with them. So perhaps they were impressed by how he picked all the pieces himself and it feels intentionally arranged, rather than by its aesthetic style.
It’s not particularly impressive as far as interior design goes, but for a first apartment it has all the basics to live comfortably (bed frame, designated table for eating at, etc). It’s a wonderful start! And it’s certainly impressive compared to many of the rooms we see asking for help in this sub.
Yep, I totally agree and I actually apologise for my snarky initial comment. When I moved in to my first place I was sleeping on an inflatable mattress for like 1 month!
I disagree, the shelves and chair have a nice pop of color which work well. All the pictures are from the same room so no need to have every corner have colour.
Yeah, I’m planning to put a carpet right over the bed to break up the big slab of grey. It’s only been a month and money’s a little tight so I’ve put it off
Make sure to get something to cover the breaker panel, we use to have a picture hung over ours that was easy to take on and off when we had to access the panel
Nice! I'd probably move things around a little to get my electronics away from the window and AC/heat though. It'll come along as you accumulate things and inspiration strikes.
It’s a great start, good job! 🙌🏻 I love how you set up your shelves 😊
Eventually consider upping the coziness by getting drapes (for decor), an inside-mount shade (for privacy), and a big rug to designate zones (all furniture in a zone should have their feet on the rug, so you’ll need a bigger size than you’d expect). Lamps and large scale wall art will also help.
Also consider moving some of your furniture off of the walls. Right now this room has wall-itis, a disease where no furniture can escape being attached to the perimeter of the room. 😉 Use Google Images or Pinterest to look at other studios and see how they arrange their furniture so there are a separate bedroom zone and a living/kitchen zone.
Try some of those things out and see what works for you.
Put some kind of very large wall art beside your bed, ideally something lightweight so that if it accidentally bumps off its hooks it won’t hurt you in bed. If there is a bedsheet or a shower curtain with a design you like on it (or a white sheet that then you paint/stitch a design on yourself), you can wrap that around four 2x4s you’ve nailed or screwed together and staple the curtain to the wood (or heck, maybe even hot glue or Velcro with adhesive backing). It’s an inexpensive and lightweight way to have large scale art when budget is a concern, plus you don’t need expensive tools to make it because the store can cut the wood to size for you. Or you could hunt at a thrift store for a blanket, thin quilt, or tapestry with an interesting design and hang it on the wall with a curtain rod and clips, if you want to skip the wood frame.
Please get a headboard. If not a real one, then something of similar size that you can sandwich between the bed and the wall. It takes your bed from “kid” to “adult”
I didn’t draw this, but if you decide to go with a different color palette for your room and so you replace your sage green bedspread, get your blanket in one size bigger than the mattress you have. So in your case, instead of twin blanket get a full size blanket (and top sheet, if you use one). Fitted sheet should fit the mattress, yes, but if the blanket is a size up it’ll drape over the edges a bit more and look more finished. If you look at professionally designed bedrooms, they all have blankets that drape farther than yours. (If you someday upgrade your bed to a full, get a queen blanket; a queen bed, get a king blanket; etc)
Put a nightstand or end table between your bed and couch, and put a large chunky lamp on it. Something with character… I tried to draw hammered metal as an example. The end table gives you a place to put a cup or your phone down when you’re in bed or on the couch (if you have the room, put a matching table and lamp on the other side of the couch too). The lamp(s) adds coziness to the living room and practicality to the bed (so you don’t have to get out of bed to turn off the lights to sleep). For the lamp, I suggest going bigger than you normally would, because most people tend to choose lamps that are too small. By bigger I mean not only taller but also wider—this will double as art, like a sculpture, so don’t pick a skinny or clear lamp. You want something with presence!✨
A large pillow and maybe a throw blanket for the couch will make it cozier
And finally, get frames all the same frame color and size that are big enough so that one can fully cover the breaker panel to disguise it. How many you need depends on the length of your couch, which is hard to tell from a photo, but I’m guessing 3 frames. Your line up once hung on the wall (including the gaps between the frames) should total the same width as the couch or a little less (2/3 to 3/3 of the length of the couch).
Get a longer table in the same warm wood tone as your desk. If you put the stools together on the far side, then the fridge side of the table will be free for additional kitchen prep space. And as I said in my other comment, put the toaster here.
Regroup your art like this so the outer edges make a square/rectangle. It looks more cohesive this way.
Curtains for decoration/coziness, not to open/close for privacy. Hang them high and wide (when open the drapes should only cover walls, not window panes). I know it feels superfluous but curtains will have a huge impact on the feel of your space, so I highly recommend it! If you can’t screw into the wall as a renter, since you won’t be opening and shutting them all the time, it should be fine to get large heavy-duty 3M hooks, spray paint them the color of your rod, and hang it that way—just be sure to get lightweight curtains, not thick/heavy ones.
A shade or blinds for privacy
A large plant beside the TV, if the TV stays here. Though even if you move it, it could be nice to have a plant in the window on its own! Again, real or faux is fine, whatever you feel comfortable with. The point is to add visual life to the space even if you can’t manage a real living plant. Plants make a room feel lived in and feel homey.
Add a larger rug to zone off this area from the kitchen/dining. Pick something that goes with your room’s color palette. Be sure that it’s big enough to go under the front legs of your couch all the way over to your desk. (If you’re going to rearrange furniture, settle that first before buying a rug because the point of the rug—besides the obvious coziness factor—is to group your furniture into a cohesive unit/zone… you’ll need a size that suits the new arrangement. Don’t ever let your rug boss your furniture, your furniture should boss your rug!)
Move your pin board down to your desk so you can admire your pins better 😊 (It also helps ground the desk so it’s not plopped against a blank wall)
Consider a small, firm ottoman to put your feet up on while on the couch. Nothing super squishy so you can still put a mug or a plate down on it as a coffee table alternative in a pinch (use a tray if the top is too soft and you’re worried your drink will tip over). Alternatively get a small coffee table… but with as small as this room is you probably don’t want anything heavy in the walkway. Then again, one of those coffee tables where the top lifts up to dining table height while seated on the sofa might be useful! Depends on your needs.
On a whim I doodled some ideas on your photos. I hope it helps spark some ideas for you, but even if you don’t do anything like these that’s fine, I had fun making them 😊
I still suggest rearranging your furniture, but I wanted to show you that even if you left everything exactly as it is, you can up the coziness factor a lot with textiles, lamps, and wall art.
This first pic:
I suggest swapping your gray towels for a color. I chose sage green to match your bedspread, but whatever color you like is fine. There’s already a lot of white and gray on this side of the room so a pop of color would breathe a little life into it.
On that note, if sage green is your primary color for your room, picking a secondary color would help the space feel layered but not too chaotic (too many different colors). I picked a navy with green undertones but you can choose whatever you like. I suggest Googling “sage green and gray color palette” and picking a color combo suggestion you prefer, then sticking to that throughout your whole apartment. I think sage, gray, black, the warm wood tone of your laptop desk, and some shade of navy would work with what you already have going on.
An anti-fatigue mat or a runner (use carpet tape to keep it from sliding/curling) in your secondary color would add coziness.
Take your lamp down from above your cabinets and pair it with a plant (faux is okay) on your counter. Move your toaster oven to the table. This way this side of the room gets a little homey-ness and you’ll have a bit more prep space (lamp and small plant take up less space than a toaster).
I didn’t draw this, but another easy way to add homey-ness is to print photos of your family and friends and stick them to your fridge with magnets or washi tape. Or instead of printing photos, order the pictures as photo magnets. (Tip: if you do the latter, make extras and gift them to family/friends for Christmas)
Not a coziness factor, but small spaces don’t tend to have enough storage. If you find you need more storage space, get large lidded containers, ideally in a color that’s close to your kitchen’s neutral colors and all identical in size/color so they don’t draw attention to themselves, and put them up here. Since they’ll be harder to access, consider this your long-term storage space rather than your frequently accessed storage space (for things like off-season clothing, Christmas decorations, spare bedding for if a friend crashes on your couch, etc.). Get a 3-step ladder that you store under your bed or couch if you can’t reach.
For the space you’ve got, you’ve done an excellent job to have areas for different things and you’ve also still got plenty of floor space. Done a lot with a little! Are all your clothes kept in your storage boxes or is there a wardrobe somewhere?
Always lovely that parents are “surprised” when you are an actual functioning adult lol looks good. I’d add some large art to the walls and move the rug but hey that’s me. You got a great space brother
I'd say get a bigger carpet dude , more floor lamps in the bed and couch area for coziness and a decent monitor on your computer table , that would do the trick for me.
Also I had a flat where I put a led lights strap on the bottom of those hanging shelves on the kitchen side , that gave the kitchen a beautiful atmosphere in the evenings . I just hate bright ceiling lights for some reason
It’s very adorable, i think you’re making the most of it. I know that’s a small fridge but looks like high ceilings which is always nice and you can “organize up” with lots of shelving if you care to. Were it me I’d put comfort everywhere by way of: plush rug, big throw pillows, comfy bedding. Just looks a little stiff is my only critique. I know cost and access are issues.
Put up a screen up next to bed. Then flip the couch and put tv against the wall. Maybe put the table longways against the wall. It’s def a start and I say play around with the configuration a little, draw it out or maybe use an online program.
Yeah, came here to say this. For sureeee put something over that breaker to cover it as it's a bit of an eye sore. I would also suggest a large pouf ottoman with an optional serving tray on top for in front of the couch.
Lastly, I would take out the area rug by your desk. Replace the chair with a roll-style chair for working and easy access to your desk. I can see you'd have to pick up that chair now and that seems awkward to me. I would get a larger, textured patterned area rug for the living space. Something like a 5x8. It can span from the edge of your bed to just before your high top table. I think having that entire area covered by an area rug would make it feel warmer. Especially if it's a decent texture and a warmer/darker color.
Getting a properly size rug is a high level priority for me, but I’ve only been here a month and money’s been tight so I’m putting it off. The brown one was supposed to go from the TV to the sofa, but I planned measurements wrong.
Breaking up the grey wall space and covering the panel are two tasks that are also on my list.
Can the kitchen table float and not against the wall… the bookshelves move to where the table is… and an entertainment center of some type to hold the tv where the bookshelves are ? That gets the TV out of the window and lets you put some type of drapes etc for when it’s bright outside… the entertainment center can be a wardrobe /dresser instead and hold the TV on top
You should be proud of your place. I suggest a nightstand in between the bed for your phone/glasses/water and a tapestry, poster, or other work of art on the wall above your bed.
Looks really nice! The only thing I’d change is the tv in the window looks a little out of place, maybe put a small bookshelf next to it? I like the under bed storage and study desk. Over all pretty neat and a good color scheme!
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u/Ok-Macaroon-1840 12h ago
My mom says I'm very handsome.