The upstairs windows

I love those upstairs windows in the front of the house. Two simple windows surrounded by an upside down V (I guess it would officially be called a dormer). How could I improve on those windows?

Right now and since the 1950s at least, those two windows go with a tiny extra bedroom- almost too small to use, forced into an awkward L shape by the intrusion of the stairwell.

My dream would be to have these windows open not only to the rest of the upstairs (no bedroom walls sealing off that light) but also all the way down to the downstairs via the stairwell, lighting up the front entryway and adjoining living room. I am not usually a fan of 'cathedral ceilings' both for lack of heat efficiency and my association of them in McMansions, but this might be one exception to my rigid tastes.

Here they are currently from the outside:

Here is that awkward tiny bedroom upstairs with the two windows (note the wood panelling wall that surrounds the closed-in stairwell):

So my idea would be to take out that floor for this bedroom (no 3rd bedroom after that), take out that wood panelled wall surrounding the stairwell and have this space with the windows open to the upstairs and downstairs. The one big downside to removing the 3rd bedroom is all the memories that kids have of staying there.

Not being an engineer, I'm not sure if this is a pipe dream and how you would make the stairwell safely surrounded without looking fenced-in. More research to do on designs of open stairwells.

Here's a closer look at that bedroom door entrance and the closed-in stairwell down beside it (to the right of the bedroom):

And here is how dark the upstairs hallway at the top of the stairs is now: