Based on the first photo I was going to suggest maybe changing the balusters to metal or using glass with a metal or wood top rail. But it is hard to change just the entryway railing when you have matching railing on your nearby stairs and landing.

Do you have the budget to replace all the railings?

If not, maybe use a paint store app where you can upload a photo of your furnished room and see how the stained wood portion of the railings and the door look in black?

It has to have a railing there, so I would leave it. It matches your other stairway. Changing it to something else could look out of place.

How about eliminating the railing and replacing it with a drywalled stub wall?

I think the drywall stub wall is the only answer unless you want to redo all the stairway too .

Pony wall would be the only real option shy of changing all the railings.

I'd obliterate it with drywall all the way up.

I find the concept of sitting at a fire, with a wide open space and double doors behind me? NOT a place I'd want to sit. Not to mention the whole area is out of sync with the column.

The railings / balusters look very dated and not an appropriate style for that house even when it was built. This entry was a builder's idea of being "impressive" instead of functional or welcoming.

I like a front entry that is a transition space that reveals the main living area rather than dumps you right into it. Ideally there would be a nearby coat closet, a place to sit to put on/remove boots or such and a hall table to drop keys and mail.

"Open concept" can feel too open and vulnerable - rather than cozy. A half wall or a whole wall would both work well, but a whole wall would make it more of a transition space and make the LR a little more contained and cozy.

If you really aren't sure about a whole wall, get a large tarp or large drop cloth and hang it from the ceiling to approximate a wall and see how it feels - both from the entry and from the LR.

^^

Agree wholeheartedly!! and Jake echoed my post. I am so beyond tired of the urge , past or present, to completely rid a home of interior walls.

I do not favor choked spaces, BUT..... NEITHER do I favor a barn better suited to cows!

The natural gravitation of humans to the back of a home, to the kitchen, is well acknowledged. What should also be a factor? There is nothing warm, welcoming, cozy, intimate......about sitting at a foyer double wide entry. One that deserves its own containment for just that purpose....... a slower reveal. : ) of what lies in the beyond.

Wall it off up To ceiling…

It would be tata for me

I would drywall it to the ceiling, or a half ( Stub ?) wall at a minimum.

@BeverlyFLADeziner

That railing is interesting if you keep that open. It's important to note that it's not at all up to code and not appropriate for the use in the second photo. A child could easily get through that.

More than 1 wall is needed. That's a big safety hazard to be that open with the steps, and have zero visual differentiation between the levels.

I agree with those above, wall it to the top. No stub wall, that wont look any better than what you have.

I like open spaces - but I also completely agree your home has enough space to give yourself a nicely defined entry way too. (Sometimes in smaller homes one doesn't have great options. This is not your problem.)

I also agree the railing at your entry isn't...fabulous - but given that it matches your massively huge staircase railings, again, as the others have already said - unless you're changing both you can't change just one and have it look right.

100% agree you need to have the entry railing replaced with a full wall. Give your entry some separation from your living space by creating defined entry - and get rid of the entry railings entirely. Massive win, IMO. If you can find a way to add a coat closet in the process you've hit a trifecta.

I would consider a dividing wall with a glass panel so the front door and chandelier can be screened a little but still seen. It wouldn't have to be clear glass. The wall can then be wrapped to cover the short run of the ballusters. It looks like the entry ceiling may be open above the column, if that's the case, I'd be mindful of what angles would be created.

Put a cabinet for shoes or hats on the door side, a credenza or something taller on the lower side.

I would do a wall up the ceiling. I like having a foyer vs. the entry being open to the room next to it. If you add a full wall, you will have an actual foyer instead of just the front door opening straight into rooms in the house.

Jake The Wonderdog I'm not sure the same code applies to a single stair that would apply to a staircase.

I agree with McDonald, you can't see the step, place two handrails down, one on each side of the column.

@BeverlyFLADeziner

I agree - under 30 inches it's probably not a problem. It's the staircase that clearly a problem.

Separate issue: I agree about the handrail. I don't know about local code there, but two steps here require a handrail.

For someone older, poor sight, etc. that would be tricky.

I doubt it needs a railing at all. : ) It is something most define with a rug.

We all routinely step from a curb to a street and its little more than that.

The step from an asphalt street to a concrete curb is well differentiated with the high contrast of light to dark, and often with yellow warning markings if in a crosswalk situation and no curb cut.

If you replace the rail with a wall, you might want to box in the column as well.

Agree with the wall and making it into an actual foyer.

We have one step-down from the entry to the sunken living room and people have walked right off it and fallen, also fallen going up. It is all wood so practically invisible.

Yes, we have an area rug to define it. We finally put in a railing and it is a good reminder and people actually use it.

This step-down is even a farther fall with two steps down to the living room, so I would advise a railing for going down the steps.