after the trend for knocking down walls to create more open plan living homeowners started to realise that we also like some separation and new homes now include WIP and separate media rooms etc but allways depends on how you want to live and a flexible home that can expand and contract to suit the needs of a changing family would be ideal so we've planned our homes to be able to entertain and/or accommodate a crowd but also close off rooms so we only AC and have to clean the rooms that are used most often...in fact we're in the process of restoring a wall removed by previous owners to create a separate study out of an oversized living room and look forward to the cosier seating area, more flexible furiture options and private office space

Life stage and number of inhabitants are big factors. Also rooms to support how people live when at home, your eg home office, cozy lounge (snug as they say in UK) vs a big entertaining space is a good one.

Are the walk-in cupboards/room ideas from the US? Where housing is reported to be bigger? Is it a psychological shift? Not being forced to cull our belongings because we have more storage space? Or a Victorian era idea of keeping a beautiful room & the 'work' out of sight?

I am off to study floorplans of houses from Europe, specifically Scandinavia and Germany. Practicality and fuction are what I am aiming for. I probably should walk thru some display homes too (only viewed one so far). But these new brochure floorplans & I just don't seem to align at all.

Open plan can be noisy. Kitchens are noisy hence the separate tv room. There are lots of options. So keep looking for what suits you

for one of our homes we stole some ideas from German and American floor plans that included an upstairs master suite with under sloping ceiling space for wiw and ensuite and we also had a kitchen with WIP, dining and family room without TV and a separate lounge "media room" that was also useful for guests or formal dining on special occasions....that home also had my favourite compartmented bathroom that is ideal for sharing and i probably stole many ideas from some upmarket display homes but i was lucky enough to have grown up in a family of builders were i was often exposed to some spectacular architect designed homes and touring exhibition homes villages in Sydney was a regular weekend activity... i suggest that you study a familiar home to clarify what size and spaces are good and bad for you, measure rooms, doorways, windows and furniture and make a scale drawing and a wish list, must haves and can live withouts and carry a compass and a steel tape measure so you can easily check orientation and spaces of anything that takes your fancy....these days we can make an Ideas book of photos on HOUZZ but i also keep a collection of books, magazines, catalogues etc but keep in mind when inspecting exhsibition homes you will find that what looks great when set up by a designer with smaller furniture and no extra clutter might feel cramped in a comfortable family home and i agree that not being forced to cull belongings makes us think that we need more storage when in fact we probably need much less "stuff" says the person who needs a whole separate room for my reference books!!

Project homes seem to be carving up spaces and adding rooms like WIR and mud rooms for the sake of sales rather than what is the best functional use of the space. I like both open and separate spaces. Having two teenagers a separate living room is needed for my sanity.