Hi Witchey. I left my barre at 41" and I'm 5"2'. After I assembled it, I did consider having the pipe cut down a couple of inches, but never bothered and haven't found it necessary either.
It never occurred to me to use a step, but that's a good idea!
The store where you bought your pipe from should be able to cut and re-thread the uprights if you should decide that you want a shorter barre.
Noel