not much help here, but we do have a step down into our den from our LR.

And it's those giant river rocks. No one has tripped over it yet!

I think because it's more noticeable. I saw on HGTV that if you do a step down with no rails make sure you use tile or some material that sets it apart from the other flooring above so someone is more likely to "notice" that a step is there!

People usually won't fall down two steps. Your brain picks that level change up. It is One step that is the problem. However, a change in materials gives another visual. Consider extending the step all the way across.

I am not sure if these pic's would help or not. We have a sunken LR, one step down from entryway.

We don't actually USE the railing to step down, it's just a visual break between the rooms. Is this what you have, or did I mis-understand and your railing actually goes down the steps for a handhold?

We had our floors changed 4 years ago and it's still the original railing from when the house was built in 1982. No one ever suggested it be taken out. The installers just glued a small strip of flooring on the LR side where there was a gap between the floor and molding.

$1400 for 4' of railing? In what part of the country are you? We are in Florida and are doing 25' of balcony railing and a 20 step staircase with one landing for under $6000. The railing is Brazilian cherry and the balusters will be painted white. $1400 seems excessive. Are you using an exotic wood? I'm just really surprised at the cost.

Katiee - That's exactly what I have.

Flseadog - yeah, I agree the price sounds insane. I am probably going with a Brazilian Teak floor, but (are you sitting down) I am 99% sure this quote was for stained oak! I'm in NoVA, and I think I can find it cheaper if I go somewhere else, I am just not really sure what I would even prefer.

The floor materials will be different as the kitchen and the step will be wood and the FR is carpet. That will help delineate the space. I'm just worried that the table will "float" if there is nothing between it and the step. Since the railing will be behind the table too, it will be a little busy in the corner. Maybe a shorter wall is a better option? Maybe a 3 feet long counter top high wall with just a painted wood top would anchor the table but not feel too closed in?

So, tsherman, help me understand. You want to remove the existing railing and replace it with another railing or a wall? What do you feel is visually wrong with the one there now? Is it something that can be changed by staining to match new floors?

I am not 'in love' with our railing, but it is covered by a table from the entry side and not something I look at on the LR side. I would not replace it with a wall because I agree it would have a closed in feeling.

When our entry and LR floors were different, our step was carpeted just like the LR floor. When we changed to wood, we had to have a new step custom made because there was only a wood box under the carpet. Our step is an odd size, so it took 3 weeks to have made and cost $600. I was not thrilled to hear that after the floors were in!

As a general rule, I'd prefer the half wall. I just don't think the 'veiw' down there is generally attractive, so I'd rather have the simpler, less fussy, lower maintenence solution.

There could be exceptions to that rule if the wall would make one space or the other too dark, etc.

If the transition between the two rooms has an eyelevel visual difference, then falling probably isn't a problem. If it's just open, and there isn't anything to visually suggest "doorway" or change of rooms, it's much more likely to be dangerous. That's part of the function of Katiee's railing.

There are plenty of less expensive ways to get creative with defining your spaces.

Revisiting the bookcase, can you do a builtin bookcase to straddle the two areas. Use the 6" planned for the knee wall and 6" of the unused space in the FR for a bookcase. There was a post by member a few months ago regarding her sister's dysfunctional kitchen (there was a cooktop in an island in a room that was not big enough to support an island) that had a beautiful example of a bookcase straddling the step down area. I'd post a link, but it's fallen off the board and I can't find it.

The current railing will not match the new floors in the K, and I was told a it is cheaper to get a new one than to strip/stain the old one. The current style isn't great either.

Katiee and pllog are right about a table in front of the railing helping define the space, but there isn't room to place anything against mine to anchor it. On the K side I have my kitchen table/chairs so it doesn't really hide the railing it just looks busy. The view from the FR is worse because there's no room for anything in front of the railing because it's next to a sliding glass door. When you're in the FR and you look into the K - you see the railing and in front of the table and chairs.

I do remember the dysfunctional kitchen post, although not the bookcase, but I do understand what you mean. The storage would be great, but I don't even have 6" in the kitchen so the bookcase would be 2 " from the door.

I think if I don't do the railing my options are a half wall, or just extend the step the full length of the opening. Why do I feel like I'm choosing between 3 bad options?!?

I would be more comfortable with a built in bookcase (perhaps two sided) or railing. Something about the visual combination says stairs! It's helpful to have more area with a "stop" for errant vacuum cleaners, children and toys.

Do you have any pictures of the space? It's difficult to advise without a visual. My first thought would be that extending the steps would be a nice option, opening up the kitchen to the family room. But if you have a table and chairs up there I'd worry about kids in chairs falling down the steps.

Could you make a booth out of the breakfast nook, with one wall of the booth being a wall separating the rooms? I realize that this is more expensive than a railing, but maybe it would give you better function.

wow pax, that is beautiful! I wish I had the room to make the eyesore something that nice looking and functional!

Ours has a step-down from the kitchen to the family room and we did something similar to paxispl. Ours is a long peninsula that is hooked on to a wall bank of cabinets. We have bar height barstools on the family room side, and that gives us more seating space during family gatherings and holidays.

We have both a step down FR and a step down LR. We plan to raise the FR floor to match the kitchen height creating a very large room (and it allows me to extend the kitchen portion during the remodel).

In order to raise the LR floor, I would need to rebuild the fireplace since it is on ground level. Instead, we plan to build cabinets on the LR side of the step down with doors accessible from the hallway and the LR. I'm not sure the exact height of the cabinet, but since this cabinet is within 3' of the DR, I plan to make this function as a server, too.