With the railing removed, a single, shallow step like that just becomes a trip hazard. If you had two decent steps between the two I might consider working with it, but as-is I think for safety you need to build the living room up.

In your case, I would fill in the carpeted living room to bring it up to the same level as the hard wood dining room. And the reason I say that is because the stair case is too close to the step down making it a hazard.

It is definitely cool, but a bad trip hazard. Build it up.

In this day of litigation, it is not only not cool, but is a hazard that may end in a court case.

Hard to say without seeing how building up would affect the rest of the room...windows,doors,heat registers,etc.

I like your house! If you do keep the living room sunken I would close the opening next to the stairs and make the gap to the left of it open instead. That way you won't have to make a 90% turn when entering that room from the stairs.

That is a shallow step down! However, we absolutely love our sunken living room. It is very warm & cozy.

What a fun project! I'd say stick with the 1970's feel and leave it sunken. The fear of a potential injury alone shouldn't cause you to change it's original character. The guardrail is unsightly and unnecessary. Additionally, maybe open up the stair risers to allow as much natural light into the interior.

How tall is the ceiling height of the LR? How tall would it be if you eliminated the step?

If you want to stick with the 70s feel, keep the posts, the railings and the step. But a 4 inch level change across the whole room is just a bad idea.

I agree, leave the railing and the step or remove both. We had an 8' wide doorway with three steps down that spanned the whole opening. Traffic flow was a nightmare and people slipped all the time. I added a 4' long bench to one end of the doorway at the top so that the usable opening was only 4' and the difference was amazing. Folks had to slow down so there were no more slips (plus they were right by the wall so could grab it if necessary) and since the kids weren't rushing up and down that whole wide length things were much more orderly.

We're like sheep; we want a gate to be herded through lol!

I HATE sunken rooms ... how did anyone ever think it was a good idea?

I think that it adds warmth to an area and gives that extra touch of elegance too ,therefore I say keep it

Make it all the same level. Your options grow. Your spaces can be managed better. And, it won't limit you to two separate spaces. You can still make them separate with furniture layout, if you wish.

If you're doing a remodel, this is the time. Later, when you might like the open design, you'll be limited, or looking at more expense.

design for the age of your guests and how much they drink. (you will be ok, you live there and know its coming).

I have a depth perception problem and almost fell by a step down from a kitchen. There was no differential color from the kitchen to the step to the living room to warn me. Also anyone using a wheel chair, crutches, or a walker would have a problem with the step.

I think they look great and are pretty cool. But if you’re planning to be there when you are very much older, you might not be so happy to have a few more stairs to navigate. And it certainly won’t look that cool with a mini stair-lift thingee attached.

We had one and older relatives found it difficult. We did it so that we could have a higher ceiling in the living room. Doesn't look like an issue with your house.

I wouldn’t call it a sunken living room at all. the step down isn’t even code.

Do you think it was part of a remodel…it looks like it could have been basement; walls came down and support posts replaced the wall; then the lower was garage?

IMO, a sunken living room is just that…two or three code steps leading down into the room.

And yes, it is cool when it’s the real deal.