So I have a large kitchen, with an island, table and lots of space, and a living room, both separate. Still, I couldn't say where I and the family are more often now. Sometimes everyone in the kitchen, sometimes in the living room. The children are still small so far, but I find it better this way, because we can all be in the same room but don’t have to. I also don’t have to keep an eye on the children all the time, if something happens I can just walk a few meters to the living room. When they are bigger (and sometimes even now) there are simply many more possibilities to split up if you have opposite requirements regarding music/quietness brightness etc. I would only be bothered by one room then. If one person is watching TV, I can’t comfortably bake, listen to music for example, and there are many other combinations, and you don’t have to immediately retreat to the office or another floor. Likewise, the separation of odors works very well with a ventilation system and the separate rooms, even with open doors. Furthermore, I am more the “eat and talk” type, not the “the TV is always on” type, I don’t want a TV in the kitchen/dining area. The argument “family” means for me a separation of rooms. However, it is a kitchen-dining room, and the living room is more a seating/multimedia/playroom, which in our case is even considerably smaller than the kitchen.