Less. You don't need to fill all these places. Things that you absolutely love and must be able to see/visit? sure. But don't get anything because you have empty ledges. It all just looks way too busy to me right now!

Yes I’d love to get rid of things and I don’t plan on buying things. I just want to rearrange what I have and cut what doesn’t work

Oh also not all of the furniture in the photos is staying - I just moved so I haven’t figured everything out yet. in the third photo, the bookshelf under the flowers is going. Also in a Later pic the flowers are sitting on top of a dog crate which will be moved

Get some empty boxes. Label them as Warm, Cool, Gone. Start going through your items and sorting ruthlessly into these categories. Heading into winter? Use the stuff in the Cool season boxes to decorate with. When warm weather comes, switch to the Warm season decor. You know what to do with the Gone boxes. I see you like to sort books by color, so you can do the same system with those; cools & pastels, warm & jewel tones, whites, and donate. Hopefully, you can pare down by 1/3. Don't put anything in the windows. If you own the property, consider installing ceiling mounted tracks and sheers for more softness instead of all the rectangles you have throughout the architecture and furnishings. Your wall mounted shelves aren't styled too badly (1/3 books, 1/3 large decor, 1/3 open space is a good rule of thumb.) Again, if you own and have wall space and books that are pretty enough to show their faces, this is a good way to display them. I'm seeing two TVs; one n the living area and the other in the bedroom? If you'd upload a floor plan, we might figure out a better arrangement. Where do you eat meals?

This is dining area - it’s very much all a work in progress. This apartment is smaller than my last and I’m trying to make it nicer but I’m not sure what to get rid of!

Also I don’t own :(

This is the shelf I have that I was going to get rid of

It appears your sofa and chair are in the area by the kitchen where the dining should take place. Since there are TVs in both areas, try switching the living and dining room. Can that tall piece with the flowers on top go under the double light fixture on that wall left of it? I like your dining chairs, but when pulled out and sat in those splayed legs are going to cause them to fall off the rug. I think you can eliminate the rug which appears to be more of a soft, fluffy bedroom rug if you can use it there. Does your long cabinet under the TV break into separate pieces? If so, part of it could serve as a buffet under the two tall windows by the brick wall. Just brainstorming...

That's a nice barrister's bookcase that will keep some of your special things out of the dust. Move it to the wall where the two lights are in the dining area, and put some of your nicer small things in it. Or, if you have room in the bath or the hallway nearby, it can make a great cabinet for towels and toiletries.

This is super helpful!! I don’t think there is space for the couch unfortunately to flip the space. We put the couch by the counter because we often eat and watch movies and didn’t think we would ever sit at the island to eat. Of course I wish we had more space but we are fairly limited by the large couch :(

I agree! I want to have space for it all but there isn’t a good way to fit it with the dining table in that sliver of a room

These are previous set ups

These are previous set ups

You have lots of nice items in those pix. Where is all of that furniture now, and what's the current inventory we have to work with? I do think moving the dining area away from the bathroom is a good idea.

those pics are from previous tenants so I don’t have those items sadly. I thought the same thing about the dining table but it felt like there was no other way! The current inventory is everything from the earlier photos (white chair, white couch, dining table and chairs, shelving units attached to walls, large long white storage unit, clear coffee table, gray ottoman, barristers bookcase, shelf filled entirely with books

other iterations we’ve tried...

I see the long cabinet is really in three pieces. What about making 1-2 of them into a buffet under the windows with the dining table and chairs in that end. Move the bookcase to the study and put the other piece of the long cabinet on its wall. If the barristers cabinet can go in the bath, study or hall, you could put the 3rd piece of the cabinet under those lights. How long is the sofa with the chaise portion? What's in the study?

This might be the kind of coffee table you need if you like to dine on the sofa. Two drawers in the bottom, storage under the "table/lid" and slides into a cool stack.

Love that coffee table!! Thank you. The study is actually functioning as a closet right now because the walk in doesn’t fit all of our clothing. The sofa is 105 inches wide. If we move the dining table over, I don’t know if it would fit another way. In this photo, the wall bookshelves are the green boxes and the TVs are the pink boxes. I put Xs through the rooms where there isn’t really space to move anything.

as much as I want to move the dining table, it just doesn’t seem like there is another way to fit both it an the couch... what do you think?

do you have any ideas for how to better store/display all of our books?

are there any pieces you think we should just get rid of?

also I know the two TVs are a bit funny but my boyfriend loves that set up and that was his only request so I don’t want to move those either!

I don't draw well with the mouse, but yellow are shelves, blue is furniture. You could separate all three of the cabinets on the long wall and put one under each TV and the other under the windows. This plan shows two under the window, bu you'll want something under the second TV. Is there TV in the bedroom too? I know the scale is off but measure and use painter's tape to tape out some of these shapes on your floor to get a feeling for it. As I said before, it is premature to get rid of pieces of furniture (especially storage.) Better to sort through the accumulation of "littles" (things you can hold in both hands) and pare down on some of the need for storage that you have. Right now there is too much going on visually for such a small space. Making a seasonal plan to switch out your favorite things once a year, will give the eye places to rest and look intentional. Perhaps the study/closet is a spot where some more storage could happen for you. Is there room for the barrister's bookcase across from the toilet in your bath?

We will definitely store items in the closet/study and I have moved the barristers case to the bathroom as you suggested! It’s great for towels and whatnot. tried playing around w main room layout but unfortunately couch won’t fit nicely where you suggested :( if only the space was a little wider! we’ve also discovered that the long unit is actually connected by hardware so we arent breaking it up as of now... still trying to figure out the best way to store all the books and make use of the high ceilings

Not sure if I like adding the books on the side up there... but for a sense of space, this is a photo of the dining area from before. You can see it’s pretty narrow. In the photo the dining table is pushed very close to the wall.

So why don't you just copy as close as you can the previous tenants setup which is great! Notice how less clutter is much better. I think you have to store some of your items, and switch them out from time to time, as deco suggested. Is there room in your study for one of the TV's, with a comfy chair? Dining room table in the previous setup is close to the wall, but functional for 2 people, and when company comes you pull it out some.

I like the piece of art you have in the dining area of the last photo. I think maybe we should retreat to your original dilemma which was about how to display all your stuff. As before, I still suggest you divvy it up so it isn't all vying for our attention. Do you have storage bins under your bed? That's always a good idea for storing excess. Most of the decor items seem to be white ceramic and a few gold/brass pieces. If you want to utilize the window space, I would limit it to the two upper windows that appear as though they have shelves built in. The twisted gold piece and your other twisted white ceramic piece are both large enough to be seen well from those two locations. Separate hard and soft cover books. If you have enough hard covers to do the job, start with the tallest ones that will fit in the long cabinet openings and supplement with shorter ones. If you can manage to do all hard covers, that is a better choice than soft covers, but you can mix both if you have to. Can you get a 3rd bookshelf for the dining side of the column and style it in a similar fashion to the other ones?