It is always a problem in small houses, but even worse when the place is longer and thinner.
My house is 3.5m wide, almost a metre is taken up by staircase, leaving 2.5m. Pop a sofa in, and now down to 1.25m (ish).
Put a TV in and you are about a metre from it. I don't have a TV.
The point I was making, was that for the same area, layout can be a lot better than what I currently have. I only have one bathroom, and very little storage.