First, what do you need light for? Do you do paperwork? Is your desk in your window? You'll be getting afternoon sun. I'm recommending LED lighting to people, but Fred says it has a way to go in brightness and affordability. I recommend sky tubes to homeowners. I've had 2 in one of my houses.

Hi there, I think that the skylight would definitely be the way to go, if your budget runs to it. It will really lift the whole stairwell and make it much lighter and brighter. Full height frosted doors may be OK on the laundry, but I wouldn't recommend it for the bathroom as when lights are on in the room, you may be able to see more than you bargained for, from the corridor. The occupants of the house may feel comfortable with it, but any guests or visitors may not. A frosted panel at the top of the door would be as far as I'd go. Bear in mind too, that glass lets more sound through than timber, and in a situation like yours, I'd recommend a solid core door, for that reason. I hope this helps!

The only problem I see with placing plants anywhere near the steps, if leaves fall and are not cleared away, they will rot and become an eyesore as well as slippery if stepped on. Also it may reduce the space as the plant/s grow, as you use the steps. I think placing screens against the grey wall in a fancy pattern would look nice and is basically maintenance free. I would also paint the steps, maybe in the same shade as the screens, though I would leave the railing as it is closer to the window and you don't want to make it the feature.

What's the window doing? If you do a window to the floor then a free stander will look awesome - cleaning factor? well, that ultimately depends on your opinion/priority/thoughts on that vs the aesthetic/look - that's the question you need to answer....& do you have a view out of your bathroom? If the window is a high level window then you could realistically go either way successfully....we seem to find freestanders are chosen more so than not, despite the cleaning behind factor..... my clients went for a freestander for this little bathroom and visually by just keeping it off the wall the tight space feels more open than it would have been with either a hob or back to wall. Just make sure you have enough room to get behind it to clean and all good :) PD