I feel that it's the most open as it is right now. He wants to move the TV (a large flat screen) further away from the couch we have now, so that was we can play the Kinect and other video games with enough room (there's maybe 4 feet between the TV and couch as it is now).
Below are some pictures of how it's set up now, and then I drew some floor plans of possible ways to rearrange it. The furniture we have in here now pretty much needs to stay, because I can't think of any other places to put it in the apartment (and my husband won't want to give up any pieces, and my pieces are vintage/hierlooms so I don't want to get rid of those either). We probably have too much furniture (and it's all mismatched), but we can't really afford new stuff right now.
This is the floor plan of our apartment.
The view of the living room from the balcony
The layout of furniture as it is now:
Possible ways of rearranging the room:
This has the red reclining sofa we'll be getting from his parents. The one thing I dislike about it is that you'd probably have to walk through the kitchen to get into the living room, instead of being able to come from the entry directly into the living room (with the red sofa being in the way).
This is my husband's idea (the husband who knows nothing about room design, and insists this would be good -- silly man). Downsides are obviously not enough room for all the furniture, and I feel like it cuts off the flow of traffic in the room (again).
This is the third layout I could think of. I like that there's an obvious seating area/conversation area across from each other. I dislike that the TV is perpendicular to the couches (I'm lazy, sue me). And again, not all the furniture would fit.
Any help would be appreciated! Thanks! :)