We live in a 54 year old colonial home, our dining room which was right off of the kitchen was small for entertaining and holiday gatherings after several years we decided to move our dining room to our living room which is much larger and made the dining room a sitting room or I call it my library "quite room". This works so much better when entertaining now, even though I have to walk through the foyer to get to dining room I still love this room. Do what feels right for you, in the long run it's what makes you happy.

I flipped my kitchen and dining room, and opened it. I like it this way a lot more as it makes a more sense! A very poor layout to begin with. The 2 rooms with wall between is the before pictures. The long island with white counters is the after pictures.

We flipped our kitchen and DR spaces. The kitchen space "before" was tiny U shaped, cramped, got the least light, no view, and when entertaining everyone would congregate there, seeing the worst part of the space. The kitchen was so awful we never wanted to cook.

Now the kitchen is galley with island facing FR, enjoys the view, the light, is awesome for entertaining, and has more room. We want to cook in it most days a week. Whereas the DR though it gets less light is much more intimate and is perfect for dinners after the sun sets. We also only use the DR a couple times a year, so the space allotment feels right.