God decorated this place in my favorite colors- blue and greeen.

A $300 slab of the stuff from Floor & Decor is an awesome upgrade I think.I think it worked out well. 

See the wall that comes out from the right - simply extend it across to the left and put a door in it.It would look normal, visually, and then everyone could use that storage closet under the stairs - perfect place to store winter clothes and stuff, X-mas decorations, etc.A non-load-bearing partition wall with a door in it to the downstairs "bedroom" should be pretty cheap. 

Did some work on a leaking faucet, got rid of some old furniture and replaced it with new, made a ton of tasteful decorative updates to decor.

She even consults and she'll decorate and find furnishings, find someone to meet and greet and clean, you name it.  

Is the tread resting on the riser making it unsafe to step on Or is the riser decorative?

I've seen interior decorators, people who do this for a living, choose really ugly schemes.And so therefore my advice on paint color is this.

But she still has a couple Halloween decorations out.

Originally posted by @Oleksandr Ivanovskiy:@Kenneth GarrettHandrails in town house are designed to hold on while you walking up or down stairs not to apply all body weight.You make it sound like a decoration. 

If the property is truly late 50's early 60's decor, I probably wouldn't replace anything that wasn't messed up.