I have a 70's era split foyer home that had some expansions done by a previous owner. The house itself is large for our area, but it's an issue of giving the space actual function.

What we want to do is knock down the wall at the top of our stairs, and open the kitchen dining area. This wall separates a large kitchen and dining space from the living area, and is also the first and only thing that you see upon entering the home (see snapshot).

We would get something similar, but not exactly like, the attached floor plan (currently there is a wall separating the labeled living area, with two doorways at either end, and no island). My issue is that where this floor plan has a deck, our home actually has an expansion with carpeted flooring, and is separated from the kitchen with a set of french doors. We have been using this as a living room/family room, and use the labelled living room as a dining room... but when everything is open, we will have a huge amount of space, and I'm not sure how to set it up or use it the best way. Any suggestions?