On Wed, 27 Oct 2004 22:57:08 +0100, a particular chimpanzee named
"Spike" randomly hit the keyboard and produced:

Is it permissible to combine a kitchen and lounge into one room?

Can this then open directly into the stairwell on a two storey house?

Yes to both provided that all the habitable rooms at first floor had
suitable escape windows. I would also recommend a heat detector in
the kitchen as well as smoke detection in the lounge and first floor.

In three storey houses (inc loft conversions), the answer to the
second question would be, no, absolutely not, never, no way!
--
Hugo Nebula
'What you have to ask yourself is, "if no-one on the internet wants
a piece of this, just how far from the pack have you strayed?"'