In your first post you say "you must either be living in a trailer or doing something wrong." In the world I inhabit, besides being condescending, it's very black and white thinking. But perhaps black and white thinking is common in the Netherlands? Dunno, the Netherlands is one of the few European countries I've not been to or lived in. Most of us mortals arrive at our choices through our own personal experiences and preferences, and our reasons are generally far more complicated and nuanced.
I designed and built my home (I'm an artist, designer, and builder). I'm also a backpacker/climber and more than a bit of a minimalist, so while I build big, expensive homes for clients, with large and elaborate kitchens (often with a butlers pantry), for my own homes I take a "less is more," "ounces make pounds" approach, which is in keeping with my own world view.
I designed my current (galley-style) kitchen (now over 10 years old) with compactness and efficiency in mind. Since I often work side by side with my wife, I feel more comfortable with a smaller knife (I hardly ever use anything larger than a 180mm knife). Shorter knives in a compact kitchen feel more natural to me, and as a non-animal eater, I've not found the need for anything longer than 210 day to day. And when/if I do, I need something a lot larger than 240mm. Our sink is small, and I always felt uneasy cleaning a 240 in the sink, or putting it back into the block in its tight location (think doinking the tip). Working on a small board was the least of my issues with the 240, though I'd still prefer a larger board with it and longer knives.
I'm quite good (actually, exceptionally good) with my hands, and that includes using knives. As a child, I learned how to butcher in my grandfathers slaughter house and butcher shop. Also, as a child I learned to fillet fish in the fish-market of Bergen, Norway. I'm pretty handy with any sized knife you care to give me. I just find no need on a daily basis for anything beyond 210mm, and we do eat a LOT of produce. My wife does all her prep with a 6" Chefs knife. She's a rocker cutter, which is not my go-to cutting method, hence my preference for more traditional Japanese shaped blades with big flat spots.
Recently, in order to clear up more counter space, I put away my Moccmaster and electric grinder and switched to a French Press with hand-grinder. It happily resulted in more counter space, and less coffee intake
Our compact kitchen -
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