Ground floor layout living / kitchen - partition wall

I already had that in several apartments

Aha, in apartments and right in the plural. :rolleyes: :D
Maisonette apartments are usually spaciously designed.

Aha, in apartments and even in plural. :rolleyes: :D Maisonette apartments are usually quite spacious.

No maisonette apartments... It was about the fact that when coming down a staircase you are directly facing a wall. For example, I had a basement shared flat room for a long time where this was the case. In another apartment that started with a staircase, you also first walked straight towards a wall. And in my parents' house as well, both downstairs and upstairs at the stairs from the ground floor to the upper floor and upstairs at the cellar stairs. I can also think of other houses where I spent a lot of time where this is the case... for example, at the grandparents on both sides, with my ex in-laws, etc. So it doesn’t seem to be that uncommon.

No maisonette apartments... it was about the fact that when coming down a staircase, you directly face a wall. For example, I had a basement flatshare room for a long time where this was the case.
In another apartment that also started with a staircase, you first walked straight towards a wall.
And in my parents' house too, both downstairs and upstairs by the stairs from the ground floor to the first floor and upstairs by the basement stairs.

I can also think of more houses where I spent a lot of time where this is the case... for example at the grandparents on both sides, at my ex-in-laws' family, etc. So it doesn't seem to be that uncommon

There were bad planners even back then...

A kitchen with an island is indeed great, but I can tell you from our experience with our current house (in which we are still renting, also a semi-detached house, the new house is not finished yet): this completely open design can be very, very annoying! In our case, the living room, hallway, and staircase to the upper floor are completely open and quite wide. Sitting quietly in the living room downstairs is not possible. Every noise echoes upstairs or noises from the children come down. I would not remove the wall and would be glad if I had such a wall here with us. If you do remove it, I would install a door at the stairway to the upper floor, e.g., a sliding door. You also need to consider the stairs, which presumably lead to the basement: if that also opens into the living area, cold air can rise in winter. This was also the case with acquaintances of ours, and it bothered them a lot.

now you have gained some experience… Even made you a great suggestion. What do you think about it? As a reminder: #4

Thank you all! We will leave the wall as it is, but swap the living and kitchen rooms - the most optimal solution.