Have your local lumber yard source out an approriate piece of flex-trim for you. It is made of a resin, and since it seems like you would paint it to match the risers, that would be all right. It's not inexpensive, and you must follow the installation instructions. (they want you to pre-drill the nail holes so it doesn't break) Nor would a piece of custom-curved wood shoe-mould be cheap. For this missing chunk of tread, you're on the right track. A dowel is probably not necessary, just achieve a perfect friction fit, and glue it in with five-minute epoxy. Casey

There's no reason that you can't replace the current door at the foot of the stairs with a larger glass door for access outside. That would keep it close to the kitchen and create the possibility of a "mud" type area for the new laundry bath location. Straight in from outside to the bath to wash dirty hand after depositing muddy shoes in the laundry.... It could work. Or you could place a large single glass door where the current window in the laundry room is located. You wouldn't even have to change the header, just rework the drywall and siding. You could also just add a pass through window above where your sink will be located and use that to connect with the exterior while leaving the door at the foot of the stairs. A lot will depend on what type of outdoor amenities you have and how you use those now. I can see the fridge and oven (or a snack area, or a large china hutch/storage combo) located where your current sink area is against the stairs. Then you'd have an opportunity for a large opening between the family room and kitchen area, framing the dining table and banquette at the bay window. Your cleanup sink can go where the bath is currently located, and you could add a window if budget permitted. Across the galley, there's your range (venting straight up through the roof, or horizontally to the exterior through the current garage space.) You could have a bit of a peninsula where the opening to the family room is located, with stools for perching and maybe a prep sink in that peninsula. And you're mostly recycling/re-distributing/reusing the current space that exists, which is right up my alley and always kinder to the pocketbook. You could even recycle all of the bath fixtures to their new location. But, what makes this an easy option is that you can piecemeal the project and DIY a lot of it. Putting in the bath and laundry into the current DR will allow you to keep using the old facilities until the new are ready. Then you can demo the old without losing any functionality during that project. If you put in a laundry sink, then you can do dishes in that while the kitchen sink is out of commission. :) The whole project becomes easier for your family to deal with because of the minimal disruption.

The shot from the top of the stairs with both fixtures in view makes me think that they should be the same, as they are in the same space hanging at the same height, and seem to be about the same size. Would you consider hanging the entry fixture lower than it is now? It looks from the pic like there is room to lower it by a least a couple feet. I think that if you did that, and either made one of them smaller than the other or changed the orientation (one wider than it is tall, the other taller than it is wide), you could do a different (but related) fixtures.

If your stairs are going to be “prominent” (or visible as soon as you walk in the door) you will need to plan to spend the money to make them an interesting feature, rather than just stairs haphazardly plopped in foyer. Do you need both a tub & shower in master bath? Many now just do a larger walk in shower, and ditch tub (as long as another one in house elsewhere). That would allow you to have larger vanities/more storage because right now storage in that master bath will be scant. I do think the master closets are awkward, and will be less roomy in actuality than they look on paper. Hanging clothes need 2ft. You need at least 2ft to walk (preferably more!). With their dimensions you can really only hang clothes along one wall - maybe one long wall and one stubby wall - and still have room to move in there. That longer closet closest to front of house sort of makes me feel claustrophobic when I think of going in it, as doors do not open enough to give reach in access so there will be some maneuvering to get clothing hung on outermost edge. One window on a 71ft wall (a big part of it a garage wall) does not surprise me if you have neighbors very close on either side like is common in many smaller city/subdivisionlots. I have that (will have that) too and so I have limited windows on side. Side windows in my current house almost always are blinds down as is to keep snoopy neighbors eyes away! That laundry room is more of a laundry closet. That works for some people, but not usually for people with kids, or couples like my husband and I who generate a lot of laundry through our jobs and hobbies. One can spend a lot of time doing laundry (from loading it, to moving it, to unloading it, to folding it), so would you rather do it in a closet (or end up with laundry all over floors and furniture where there is “room” to fold it) or in a larger room. That will help you determine how much room you need and want. To me it was enough of a “want” to have a roomy laundry room to sacrifice a bedroom for a generous laundry/storage room (and my husband plans to also set up his sewing machine & desk, for others it could be a craft room, etc).