what are the dimensions of the rooms?

I assume the front door opens into the family room / dining room.

I can see the point of removing the wall since it would make the focal point when you enter your home.

however, it would help to know how you use the different spaces.and how you will furnish them.

it does appear that the living room / family room combination would still be used separately if you remove the wall between them.

in respect to your kitchen, it seems like that you have limited counter space.

I would look and see if you could bump the kitchen into the dining room so that you could gain a bank of cabinnets and counter space. You could also consider a pass through on this wall between the kitchen and the dining room.. however. I'm not sure how much space thar would leave for a dining room table.

Totally agree with Kelley re. the kitchen. For me, the best money spent in this house would be to bump back into the dining room space some and place your refrigerator along that wall. Open up the wall between the kitchen and living room. And then rename everything. The old living room becomes the family room -- open to the kitchen. The old family room could become the dining room. The old dining room, now smaller, could become a office or den/study. Widening the opening would help as well (you'd be amazed what a difference that can make!

Renovations are ugly, no matter where they are. Since you are going through the expense, I'd think about any walls that I'd like removed for the future and take care of it now. I'd move the fridge and have them take down that wall, also.

Another thought, do you like arches. Maybe they can create an arch on the family room wall leading to the kitchen and you would still have an open area.

I would save my money to do the kitchen and remove the wall between the DR and kitchen . I actually like separate LR and family rooms in fact when our kids were young we really liked the separation when we were entertaining . Part of that I guess is i hate T.V. in the LR.

Great input!

I'm leaning toward widening the door between the rooms and saving $ for the next renovation. Opening the wall between kitchen and dining room would be the best long term solution. As you can see there is lots of work to be done!