Decorating and Design - Any ideas for these partitions?

Hi y'all...first post, so please bear with me. I hope I'm posting this in the correct forum; I thought more women with great design ideas would be here than in some of the carpentry forums. ;-)
This is a photo of an "entrance" into my living area from the dining/kitchen area (or vice versa). I'm in overkill with all of this old knotty pine everywhere and these two partitions in particular had these ugly spindles, all of which I had removed except for the one you see...I was told I had to leave it or put something else there for wall-bearing. I'm just wondering if anyone has any ideas as to what I can do with these two partitions. I.e., I've thought of having my carpenter replace each spindle on each side with a short tree/branch type thing. I've also thought about sheet-rocking over each partition, painting and creating somewhat of an arch. But, I am SO weary of this remodeling that I'm on the verge of tears, literally. Being a single woman at the mercy of others is wearing me down. Any suggestions would be appreciated greatly; I apologize if I haven't made this clear. The photo only shows one of the partitions, as my camera won't allow me to show both. Thanks so much!!
Oh for crying out loud; I'm not allowed to post attachments. Ahh, so typical, lol.

Hi & welcome to the forums!

you can post a link to a picture you have somewhere else like photobucket, etc.

without a pic, it's hard to advise you.

are there 2 identical half-walls that you walk in between?

what look/style do you have or are you wanting? if contemporary, you could glass block the open area, or drywall around the post area & just create a simple opening, like a niche, in which you could either place an object or hang something (leaded glass panel maybe). if traditional, you could get rid of the wall part and just use 2 floor to ceiling columns. or, if you don't mind closing it in more, you could do like you said & just wall it all in & create a nice arched opening, which would also give you added wall space to place tall pieces against, like bookcases on the living room side.

so tell us, what do you really need this area to do for you? do you need to keep it as open as possible for reasons such as, so as to not block light, or for visual contact of people in both rooms (for example, do you like & want to be able to see & talk to people in the living room when you're in the kitchen, maybe your kids or your guests when you're entertaining?) or simply to keep the area looking as large as possible? or would you benefit from closing it off & gaining wall space & an arched opening & maybe blocking a bad view from one area to the next (maybe you don't want guests in the living to be able to see into your kitchen)? another thought is to turn the "room dividers" into something functional. you could turn the half-walls into short bookcases (maybe completely open from both sides or just open from one side) or into low cabinets, if you could use more storage. if you have the room, you could literally install base kitchen cabinets there (are these partitions right next to your dining table? if so, they'd almost look like built-in buffets.) or depending on your layout, maybe they could be turned into breakfast bars with pendant lights above? or you might even want upper cabinets, too.

thinking about those things will help you come to a decision, or narrow it down anyway.

Annette....wow. Thanks so much for not only your reply but the thought-provoking questions which have REALLY helped. I so appreciate your help and time. So, I've decided to ask you if I can send you a plane ticket to come help me finish this place up, lol. :D You are just amazing; that's all there is to it. Thanks to you, I now have a photo of the ugly-partition(s) and will insert the link.
To address your questions, this house is "choppy" and the rooms are small, so I'm thinking I need to leave an open area between the dining and living area. BUT, the dining area is totally knotty pine and so is the living area...so are the partitions, lol. It's all been stained a dark, orangy color which I need to address eventually, but at this point I'd just like to get far enough along so that I can finish at least one room and begin sleeping in a bed instead of the couch (with one of my dog-children, no less). Since my construction guys are coming next Sat., I've got to decide what to do. I'd obviously like to spend as little as possible (DUH), so I'm thinking of keeping the partitions but getting rid of the two disgusting spindles (one on each partition...I already removed the others that were in a row). In the master bedroom, I've got a post that's a tree cut down and stripped from my carpenter's yard; it also serves as a support beam, so I'm wondering if I could take two smaller tree/posts to replace the spindles. That would allow me to have the open spaces, but I love your idea about also having the spaces above the 3 1/2 ft. partitions functional (shelves, etc.?).
Gracious, I just don't know what to do. I so appreciate you trying so hard to help me, esp. when I'm so overwhelmed. Any ideas will be appreciated from anyone! Here's the link to the Photobucket site that has two pics of the partition (tho poor quality). Then, I have 3,594 more questions about the rest of this house! :thinker: Again, thank you SO MUCH!
(I hope I'm doing this correctly):
http://s87.photobucket.com/albums/k148/heyheyjude/

what sort of setting is this home in, and what style are you eventually wanting?

with all the knotty pine, is it a cabin/lodge type style now? is that what you want to keep it as? the tree trunk as a spindle would work well with that, IF that's what you want. however, i get the feeling you don't like all the knotty pine, and might eventually be getting rid of it or painting it. if so, maybe the tree branch won't quite fit in then (?). look to the future & alter these partitions now for how you want them to be eventually, when it's all done. even if that means it'll look strange now, with the pine there and unpainted. you don't want to have to call the carpenters back later, right? but since you've used the tree branch idea in your master, maybe that's a detail that would be good to repeat in this area, too.

you'll just have to get with your carpenter & have him figure out a way to incorporated shelves using the branch as the support. i'm sure he'll be able to come up with something if he's good.

Hi,
I'm just lending you some female support being in a similar position as you waiting and depending on all the workmen in fixing up a new place also... it is overwhelming and $$.
Hang in there and Annette is a GREAT resource~ She's helped me out with her ideas and she's really invested in getting you to figure out what you WANT...and explaining design concepts~
I almost partially closed off an area I'd paid for them to tear down a wall to "open" the space up- but she pointed out there are other ways to create 2 living areas without putting up screens or using drape walls, etc...What was I thinking???
Anyways, one thing I've learned is to try and BE THERE for as much of their work as possible and communicate exactly what you want- as it's amazing how workers can "do it wrong" and not even realize it!!!
When it's all done- you'll love your cute place- and you'll figure something out for that "wasted space" in the guest room too.
deb;)

Annette....bless your sweet lil' heart. Well, long story short, my realtor was horrible. Two days before the closing on this place, I found out it was a converted mobile home, but I bought it anyway. The prior owners had added on a living, laundry and bedroom. I've sunk SO much money into remodeling already and am so burned out that I fluctuate between wanting to finish it up just to the point where I can put it on the market, then I think I can make it cute enough to want to stay...sigh. Basically, small rooms, LOW ceilings, open kitchen/dining area, etc. BUT, it is quite rustic with all of the knotty pine, so I guess it would be considered cabin-like and rustic. What I want is where I get overwhelmed. Financially, I can't afford to put much more into it, such as doing something with all of the knotty pine. I LOVE your idea of the glass blocks, but since the area above the partition is curved, I don't know how that would work w/o a lot of time and $ (?). Anyway, thank you so, so much for your help and advice. You're the best and obviously Deb feels that way, too. See, you really do help people more than you know!!! If I send you a plane ticket, will ya just come here and finish it up for me, lol? Thanks again, and to you, too, Deb. One can never have enough female support in this kind of experience!