A tip for people struggling with lofts... change your exterior to something with better windows. Place your stuff. Then change exterior back. They aren't destroyed anymore, and there's a ton of them that are dirt cheap on MB, so you can try out a few and find out what works best for you.

I also used this method for placing a bench on the porch of our Carbuncle mansion (I am unsure if the old glitch still works, but this is an easy alternative). Change to an exterior with a small porch, place the item, change exterior back, and it will snap to the floor of the larger porch. (If you're super picky about placement like I am, it helps to have a friend previewing the exterior so they can tell you exactly where to move the item.)

Hope this is helpful!