Have a great room plus formal dining room and living room. We live, love, play and grieve in the great room. The other two we have named the museum. Go for the great room and LIVE TOGETHER.

I lived in a traditional center hall colonial for over 20 years and rarely used my living room and dining room. We spent the bulk of our time in the family room and ate in our breakfast nook. We purposely built a new house that doesn't have these two formal spaces. The kitchen, dining area and family room are one big open space and it fits the way we live. I would do what fits your lifestyle and not be swayed by current trends. Also be prepared to add expensive engineered beams once you start opening and knocking walls down.

In every house we've lived in, whatever room the tv was in became the family room, even the formal living room like we have now. The family room doesn't get used much. The previous owners had the tv in the family room and the LR was pristine.

It's not like we watch that much tv, either!

All that said, it's nice to have a room that is not the big gathering space for quiet time, reading, or watching something while everyone else is watching hockey. It doesn't have to be furnished formally, just pleasantly.

We like having 2 living areas. We have an open kitchen family room area in the center of the house and off of that we have a bonus/media room, so neither space is a "formal" front room. My DH has the TV on all day and it would drive me insane if that big TV was in the family room. He can watch the big TV or listen to music in the bonus room and I can close the door and not have the full effect in the rest of the house. We also made sure to design the bonus room with extra sound insulation.

For resale purposes the bonus room could be used as a playroom, pool table room, poker/cigar room, large home gym or whatever else someone can think up!

I like a living room in addition to a family room. We entertain in our living room, we put in a bar and it opens up to our pool area. It’s also the Christmas tree room lol. Yes we spend most of our time in our family room/kitchen area but we do entertain a lot for football season/holidays so it gets use as well. I’m building a new house now and also bought a floor plan with a separate living room and family room. It works for us. My husband is big on sound when watching tv so a huge open room is not good for sound quality, surround sound, etc.. You need to do what works for yours and your family’s needs.

Everyone's needs are different.

Would you use a separate living room and separate family room?

Does each member of the family have their own away space or would the living room serve as an away space similar to what chispa just discussed?

In our new build we eliminated the separate living room and dining room. We are 2 people and both of us have our own "away" spaces. A studio for me and an office for my DH. A separate living room and family room would be redundent for us and would never be used.

Really great thoughts, thanks everybody! I feel like I would prefer 2 separate rooms, but the great room would also be pretty epic. Big case of FOMO either way. The bedroom/office situation is better with the great room scheme, but that’s also not a huge motivating factor. Again, glad for the wisdom and happy to hear any other thoughts!

"Epic" to me just means big, and maybe a lot of "grown-up toys."

"Epic" does not provide the separation, privacy and quiet that a separate living room and family room provide.

It is not about what we prefer.

It is about what your family structure is, who is in your family, their ages, their lifestyles, how they spend their time, how much longer they will be living in the house, etc.

Are you building your house for us?

Or for your family?

@loolab thanks for the thoughts! To be clear, epic in an architectural, not electronic sense. I feel like our family would find a way to make either space work, so I’m genuinely interested in what others look for. It’s also tough to pin down what is a fading trend, vs something with lasting appeal. I resent open concept offices but see why people would love an open home. I’ve never lived in one, maybe it’ll be cool? I don’t know! Which brings us here. Also, once the kids are grown were selling this joint so, it’s certainly for us now but it’s def for someone else in a few more years. I’m not seeing a strong general consensus, but love hearing the discussion.

In our primary home, a traditional center hall colonial, we have two living areas, one on either side of the house. The kitchen is very large but not open to either living area. The TV is in one room, which my husband uses and where we can watch movies or games with family and friends. It's also got french doors which can be closed to muffle the sound. The other living area doubles as my office and a living area where we can entertain without the distraction of TV. It works great for just the two of us or when we have guests.

In our vacation home we also have two living areas. The kitchen, dining area, and living area are all open, with the media room separate, also able to be closed off with french doors. I personally would rather have the open area without a TV since this house is used mostly in the summer and is more oriented to human interaction rather than passive TV watching. Of course unless the Mets are playing.

My choice is always a LR with a FP and FR with the TV or better yet a media room in the lower level I really dislike TV in an entertaining space since the damn thing is always turned on > We have a media room in our walkout that works really well all the time and we have a small TV in the kitchen for news in the AM while having brekfast. So much of this is decided as to how you live . How many kids , how old How you entertain when there are kids and adults .

I think it also depends on the architecture and style of the house - personally I don't love the volume of great rooms, they don't seem cozy or inviting to me but every one/family is different. I think a professional designer would be needed to do a large scale room well - they are hard.

It really comes down to your needs/wants and no matter what you decide, there will be buyers for either. It’s not a fad, but a lifestyle.

We had a formal LR and DR and presently an open concept. Given how life and entertaining has become so much more casual, I much prefer our open concept for so many reasons.

Maybe consider a layout that has a bit of separation.

Usage can change as needs change, if designed appropriately. Dining room below could become a den, office, media or games room, etc...with informal dining in kitchen.