I once gave myself the chance
to design my dream
house (I was pregnant with my first child, in the daydreaming phase, nostalgic of my days in architecture school) and I decided
to leave out a space for the formal living room, as you say it is a room that is never used but very well put together - a.k.a. a very impractical use of good furniture... anyway my dream
house was never built, my home does have a living room which my husband
insisted on completely furnishing, i do hope people (read: in laws) that
come over decide
to sit in there instead of going directly
to the family room, hope this makes the family room a private space now!