HI -- gross635 -- Your right to some degree but you can't move the main floor bath to the other side because then that interfers with the floor plan on the second floor. Would not work . I would have loved to turn the whole plan around but it won't work in this case. Added note to what I posted before is to get rid of anywalls you don't need and also not every room has to have a door. Like the one on the lounge and the one at the end of the hall. I would open the lounge up by not having the walls on the entrance hall . As for a closet , there is space in front of the set back powder room for some coat hooks etc. I also question the fact of , if the lounge is really needed. Everything could have been shifted to the front and the kitchen set back , then that would have made a larger dining/familyroom area . But that would have ruined the resale value . So I think moving the bathrooms was the lest and best for this plan. One question I have , is this an English plan ?, because the English love putting doors on every room ?And usually the doors swing the wrong way.

Photos of this landing space would be useful to see how much space you have to work with and style of the staircase.

Since I posted this, I think we came with a plan! We thought that bringing the carpet up to the landing would not work. Why? Mainly safety. When you are walking up and there is a little bit of carpet you are standing on, it could have a little give on it, but also for walking down too. Then the bridge piece wold be in an unexpected place and people would more than likely trip! I found some "nosing" in some sites online and some looked nice, but were chunky. We said no, to those as you do not want something chunky sticking out at the top of the stairs! We are going to get a silver/chrome metal nosing to finish it off, which will be neater and we have chrome hardware on the doors throughout the house now. the carpet just was laid, unfortunately the fitter did not have the nosing we wanted, but its on the way. I will post a pic when it is done so you can see. Here is it, unfinished, at the moment, but so far no tripping!

You can leave the handrail the same distance from the wall as it is now. Leave it connected to the newel post at the top; remove the newel post at the bottom, and add what's called a 'return' to anchor the bottom end to the wall. Then add a couple of brackets going up the stairs. The challenge is that the return should match the profile of the handrail, in order to blend, but check at the home center or a lumber yard/mill to see if you can match it (take measurements/drawings/close-up photos, etc.). As for painting the stairs--be careful with "fun" graphics. The treads and risers need to be clearly defined and regular. For example, a plaid or check that doesn't match the tread and riser exactly at each step is a trip hazard and may not meet building codes. People need to be able to see the treads clearly even without paying attention to them. Walking is an unconscious activity and we need to make it as easy as possible. Confusing patterns are a menace. In NYC, they put new edges on treads on one stairway at one train station that were designed to make them less slippery. However, they also made it more difficult to discern the edge of the tread. In 6 weeks, more than 1,400 people fell down those stairs. Then they redid them. Over 90% of injuries on stairs happen during descent. I highly recommend Bill Bryson's great book 'At Home--A Short History of Private Life'. The NYC anecdote above came from Chapter 14--'The Stairs'. Fascinating and amusing book. My house is 100 years old, so I feel your pain dealing with the changes and additions that happened over time.