Looking back, I have lived with around 14 different people in my life. That includes family, friends, girlfriends, and roommates (who became friends). Recently my current roomie and I were having a conversation about the layout of the house (as well as other houses we have lived in) and came up with an interesting conclusion. Bigger is not always better and "open" is not always the best option. Today I'm going to ramble on a bit about the ideas (pros and cons) of the open-concept floor plan. Perhaps it will give you some points to ponder if you're considering knocking down that wall.
In the 80's and before, homes tended to have lots of separation throughout the floor plan. I recall growing up in our standard "cape" home and was always (slightly) annoyed that there was this big "thing" right in the middle of...