We have the same entry. We had a contractor come look. First the good news, It appears that the slab is not raised, only the foyer area was. Now the bad. There are several items we have to take into consideration. 1.We already have 8' front doors. I have spoken with a custom cabinet person and it looks like we can add onto the top and the bottom of the doors without damaging the integrity of the door or taking away from the glass and iron inlays. 2. We will need to redo the concrete porch in the front. Currently there are 3 steps up to the landing. When the foyer is lowered we will only have 1 step then the landing. 3.This is the part that I am still working on. My staircase on one side ends on the left top part of the landing. Across from the base of the stairs (top right) is the door to my powder room. So, I am getting bids to move the powder room relocated and an extra turn put into the stairs.

Too many lines going on at the same place, indeed. Best remove the chandelier alltogether, for it competes with the beautiful railing of the stairs. If you do need an extra light source, than follow Maureens idea of a table lamp. If you do not need the light, just leave the vase with the flowers in the middle of the table and place nothing else on it. Also remove the two dark framed pictures and leave that wall bare. All the attention will go to the flowers and the beautiful stairs, where it belongs. It might look empty at first, for you are used to something there, but give it a week and my guess is, you don't want to go back. We cannot see the picture on the other wall, but what I can see - the white frame - is not good. Maybe the other two pictures can go there? On the left of the stairs it seems like you have 'decorated' underneath the wrought iron pieces. Remove all such 'decoration' for it functions as nothing but clutter. There's just one thing I'm not sure of: the lighting on the floor seems too bare to me (obviously that's possible). I wonder what it would look like if you would hang several curvy wrought iron lanterns there instead. I'm not sure of this though. Something like this: It is far enough from the staircase as to not compete, but hopefully complete. What do you think?

Do a lot of thinking on this, because, nothing will fit right afterwards. Your doors wont fit right, your windows will be too high up, everything is designed for the height it is now. However, I have to agree with Oliviag, put railings on there. That is an accident waiting to happen, because, it is hard to see with the matching flooring, that there is a raise in heights. One wonders why people do things like that, but, it is what it is. Your house is very pretty.

Ok let me start out by saying you do not need a huge fixture there, or a chandelier, In fact, your options would open way up if you started looking more at entry fixtures. This one is kind of plunked if you will, in no man's land. The only good view of it is at the landing area, otherwise, you are looking at bulbs from the top. Or you would have to crank your neck from the bottom to even look at it. If you change the entry fixture, you should also change the landing fixture. I would consider putting a recessed light in the landing or a semi-flush, this way there is only one "star of the show." Also, you would be better off to look at oil rubbed bronze over black as it will lend itself to more paint finishes. satin nickel (imo) is rather dated builders look for an entry. I see a chandelier in your dining area there that would be a good jumping off point for you. I'm not saying dont hang a chandelier, but if you have searched the entire internet..maybe a little gear shift wouldn't hurt