However, I have now tried to put your suggestions into a different floor plan again.
No, you have drawn exactly the same situation, only the entrance and technology have been swapped. The other things, including the poorly usable kitchen, you have copied 1:1. We are not talking about a 20cm shift or gain. That does not require a new design; it is about the kitchen space planning.
The question I ask myself is, does the floor plan work like this?
In my opinion, it has gotten worse by trying to improve it. You have worked out the insight that the staircase does not work differently. That is something already.
Attached is the upper floor.
Here is a tip: The stairwell at the beginning can probably be built over. Nevertheless, switching bedroom/bathroom is advisable. But even so, you can already see that the upper floor compared to the initial version is the winner here! I would therefore take the upper floor as the basis for the single-family house: transfer load-bearing walls, make the storage room, which you lovingly call pantry, more easily accessible (relocate), and start the all-purpose room earlier, thereby gaining space.