Do you work from home or just play games, pay bills and FB in your "office?" How are the ceiling fixtures in your space? The TV in your illustration looks to be way off from the seating. Consider a bench and dining area on the TV wall and using the other end of the space (all the way across) for your living/office area. You may have to rethink the pieces of furniture you have.

Unless you work from home regularly I'd make your dining table double as a home office. In a small condo spaces have to do double duty.

you could always ditch the dining room table and put office in that space. I grew up in a family that didn't use a dining table...like ever. Meals were had on the couch and tv trays if needed and with just a husband and myself I continue that tradition

The obvious solution is a built in that would hold a desk as well as the television and get an attractive office chair that isn't sad black leather. My desk chair is teal blue faux ostrich :-) because my office space is open to my living area and I didn't want it to read office.

I configured my built in so there is a lower cabinet that rolls out with a printer and plenty of electric plugs for any peripherals and charging stations so I don't have the nightmare of wiring underneath the desk as I used to have. I even have a recessed compartment in my desk that holds my external hard drives. I don't keep a lot of paper files as I store things digitally but I have a relatively small file drawer as well along with cabinets that have pullouts for additional storage - not just for "office supplies" but I tend to organize utility type items there like electronic stuff.

It would be quite easy to add some kind of space for the television which could be invisibly mounted. My wall unit doesn't have the television in there as I had a room divider built which acts as a room divider as well as having storage; display shelving as well as what I call my stripper pole television - i.e. the television is mounted on a revolving pole so that I can turn it to view from my office or have it face the living area. There are doors that close the television from view on either side so I don't have a television featured prominently as part of my decor and I don't have to view the backside of the television from either side :-).

I think its a matter of finding the right condo - one with space to carve out a nook for office space or maybe an extra closet you can turn into an office. google "closet office space" and you'll find lots of inspiration photos. OR - what about going outside your desired zip code? The first condo I bought, I really wanted to be in Location A, which was where EVERYONE else wanted to be too. I could only afford a small 1-dbrm. I was shocked when i looked 1 town over, Location B, how much further my $$ went. For the same price, I got the 2nd bdrm, laundry room & roof deck -- definitely couldn't afford those in Location A.

@Paula A - Personally as a condo dweller, I found location to be paramount in my choice as it impacted lifestyle significantly.

I have always lived I in metropolitan areas so it's not so much opting for a "hip" area but one that eliminates a long commute for starters. Some areas are more walkable and enable people to have shopping, restaurants, entertainment within a small area.

It's all a matter of compromise unless one has an unlimited budget and I was always willing to trade space in order to be in a geographically convenient location.

The layout they show makes no sense for viewing the TV. I would put the sofa/TV in the cozy nook where the dining is shown.

Move the dining table to the entry where the entertainment center is shown.

Place a desk in the corner by the back door, you would need to sit the chair in front of the patio doors so ideally the patio door would be accessed from the right door.

Get one of those coffee tables that lift up, so the living room can double as a dining room when needed

Sativa is repeating me, basically. You need to think outside the box here.

This is how I used my dining room in my 1 bedroom apartment and it worked well. When I really thought about it, as much as I liked my dining room table, I really only used it once or twice a year. Usually ate on the sofa with my coffee table whose top lifted to the right eating height. The small furniture is from Target. I added the keyboard tray, stained the crates my printer sat on, and had Home Depot cut the desk pad for me and I both stained and used shellac on that and it's been working great for about 5 years now.

Dr. Deb, that's the kind of table I mentioned in my response - those tables are brilliant for small spaces!