I'd update it. Looks like you need the railing for safety purposes but that is past it's prime

I'd replace it with a pony wall that has a built-in bench to work with the a round pedestal table. You might have to adjust the location of your light fixture so it centers with the table.

Imagine the brown wall cut down to pony wall height...

1960's Lake Oswego Home · More Info

Breakfast Nook · More Info

You don't need it at all. The step down looks the same across the whole opening between dining and family room. I'd have that sucker ripped out in about 2 minutes! :-)

Sorry. One more comment. The floor vent is kind of in an unfortunate location, but you can get custom vent covers that inset into hardwood floors. My brother had some made in a traffic area and they look great and have held up nicely to walking for almost ten years now.

It has to be removed, it's too dated, there is no question about it. Since the step goes all the way across the opening, and because the dining space is so small, I would not do anything there. I would just leave the entire opening clear, but what I would do is make sure that your new kitchen tile is a distinct contrast to the wood flooring in the living space so that it is very clear to people that there is a step down right there (which shouldn't be an issue because that wood flooring is way too dark to be in a kitchen anyway).

I'd rip it out, it's just one step. And everything cpaul1 said.

Thanks everyone. I will remove it. This is the tile I am considering. I know it is another wood. But I am hoping it has enough of a contrast to the dark hard wood that it will be ok

Is it gray stained wood? At this point I just don't think gray stained wood look is a good investment.

It's a wood look tile.

Is the existing kitchen tile damaged? I wood not swap out gray tile for trendy gray wood-look tiles. Especially adjacent to a room with dark wood (?) with a more traditional/timeless stain color.

No, the grey tile has been there since we moved in 18 years ago. I have always hated it.

I got sucked into the brown trend about twelve years ago, which was a couple years before the gray trend struck in 2008/09. I've taken it upon myself to warn others of the end of this gray stained wood trend.

Unless you were decorating in weathered barn wood or the belgian style before 2008, you'll probably end up hating that floor. Just like I ended up hating my big fat trendy brown sofa when it was three years old.

I do think your floor looks good and I wonder if the problem in the kitchen is more that the other finishes--wall color, cabinet color, counter color--just don't play nice with it. Before investing in flooring, I'd try painting the walls. Off-white? Or navy blue for some drama?