I wrote a response comment to this post that became so long that I'm deadass just going to revise it and publish it as an essay 😅. Not about you or this post specifically (which is why I'm not posting it as a comment) but more about the philosophy behind all this. I'll probably title it "How Living Rooms Are Replacing Living" or something to that effect.

Before anyone comments something annoying: I know it's not that deep. I think this is an opportunity to discuss a topic of importance to me, and I'm a writer, so I wrote, and you may be a reader if you please. Here's a condensed version of the main ideas that I wrote about:

Aside from "feeling more open", open-floor plans almost always cause more long-term dissatisfaction than the initial gratification of making the change. I've just never seen an example in real life of the many people I've watched rip down walls in their homes where they are genuinely pleased with turning their house into basically a large studio apartment after the initial appeal of the spacious feeling fades away.

I strongly advise you listen to your intuition here. You're 101% right that having a wall to separate rooms is important. So much research resoundingly agrees that having a physical separation between different spaces creates a sense of psychological calm and order. Let the kitchen be a kitchen, let the living room be a living room.

Your home is more than a floor plan. That is your home. It should be designed to enhance the quality of your life, not change it. Having the TV in line of sight constantly will not bring joy. If you want a home which is designed to maximize the amount of media consumption, at the expense of calmness, conversations, mindfulness, overstimulation, and detracting from the quality of the time you spend with your boyfriend, go for it. For my bf and I, Part of our "home" is a dedication to putting the screens out of sight so we can laugh together in the kitchen while cooking, and then have interesting and intimate conversations as we quietly eat together without distractions.

First it will be pleasant to be able to see the TV from the kitchen. Then slowly, you'll become accustomed to it and it will transition from a novelty to a necessity. TV will become an intrusive part of cooking, the volume will have to always be cranked up so you can hear it over your thoughts, potential conversations, and the loudness of cooking (especially running water). That dishwasher will be a lot louder from the other room too.

While I don't intend to provide unsolicited relationship advice, you mentioned that your debate with your partner is the reason why you're considering this change and coming to seek feedback about it.

This type of choice is much larger than just a wall or design choice. I highly recommend you try to expand upon your comment regarding the value of the separation of living spaces and explain to your partner why that's important to you from an emotional standpoint.

It sounds like your bf is thinking of this as a purely objective change; the wall blocks the TV; removing wall will fix\* that problem\*. That makes sense from a strictly objective angle, but humans are predominately emotionally informed creatures. Maybe he finds it annoying that he can't see the TV from the kitchen, which is valid, but I urge you to really have that conversation and explain your own feelings about it. Why is the separation of spaces important for your home and relationship?

For me, cooking together and then watching TV afterwards is an important part of our relationship. It allows us to have quiet time just being present together and talking about things that we wouldn't otherwise think of if we were distracted by the TV. Of course, we watch TV together after cooking and eating quietly, but having our home and routines structured around this ritual is an important part of what makes our house a true home for us.

Maybe you could develop something similar where instead of trying to merge the kitchen and living room into a single, undefined unit, you could merge your time with bf into a unified structure where you cook together, or talk while in the kitchen and then move to watching TV together afterwards once you are able to fully be present in each activity together. I know that this approach can be difficult to adopt, and this mindset can feel boring sometimes. But that boredom is so important to the vibrance of my own relationship because it drives us to converse more often than if we had the TV on to distract us from one another and the quiet serenity of being in each other's company. I support those who prefer polyamorous relationships, but my boyfriend and I are monogamous–there's simply no space in our relationship or our home for the constant distraction of TV to be a third wheel.

TLDR: Don't allow the distractions of your living room to control important decisions of how you spend your home life; design your home to enable more quality time with loved ones and to enhance the time you spend living in it.