How to update opening?

Remove the spindles. No one has these anymore; they date the home. You can just leave the half wall and top it with new stained board to hide the spindle holes, or remove it altogether. If you back up and take another picture, we could see what you are dealing with better.

Remove the spindles - leave the area open - or put in a set of box shapes that are not lined up but off-center of each other. Thin boards could hide the holes with the same stained color. Another thought would be to box in two spindles together or each one by itself.

Hello, I found some pics of some pass through windows that have clean lines which would transform yours. Here are the links.. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/45528646204052165/ and https://www.pinterest.com/pin/45528646204052121/

Hello Sandy,

Had you thought to enclose the area by boarding it in an adding wallpaper and a Mirror on one side and perhaps, mirror tiles and a Picture on the other? Or you could make it into a Display Cabinet with Sliding glass doors both sides? Or a Bookcase? Enjoy the journey!

Leave the spindles. The ceiling fixture seen in the picture is more out of date than they are. Also remove the Xmas lights, They belong to Xmas, not any other time of the year or used in any other way.

You can either remove the spindles or you can upgrade them by painting them white or a lighter color and then glazing with a darker color over the top. The glaze will give them depth, and bring out the indents in the wood spindles.

I would remove the spindles and put in shelves. You can use it for books or to display a collection of something. You could string your lights around them to add a little bit of sparkle.

Hello again Sandy,

Greetings from over the pond! Should you want to paint over th natural wood, then use (ESP) Easy Surface Preparation. then undercoat and topcoat as usual. You could always remove the spindles and replace with Beading and Glass, making it an internal window.......

👍🏻😎