Do you know what is inside the soffit or are you guessing? I'd want to know for sure because surprises there could get expensive or upsetting. I don't think there is a right or wrong on the half wall. What is your goal -- a visual flow or continuity between rooms or to physically open up the space ? Do you need more than one traffic path? Would you want to change the placement of the table (centered or closer to the kitchen to open up the living space)? Is what bothers you that the white wall jumps out at you with the softer green behind it? You can change that with the treatment of the wall.

Does the half wall serve any purpose? It screens the table and chair legs, but not the top or your kitchen counters where the clutter most folks talk about screening tends to gather. I don't see any cookbooks showing in your kitchen and your baker's rack is filled with photos, so it doesn't look like you need a book case or anything more functional there.

My kitchen, breakfast and family room are one long hall similar to the way yours would be if you removed the wall, so it wouldn't look funny to me. Some people wouldn't like it, but I've had some kind of open arrangement since we started a family and it fits how we live. I would hate a house where I was isolated in a closed up kitchen now, but other folks wouldn't buy a house that didn't have a closed kitchen.

Have you looked into the cost of fixing the floor and is it worth it to you to?

The half wall just mostly dictates where those spaces have to be divvied up--desirable for those who like lots of structure and few hard decisions in their lives, I guess. :) Architecturally, besides being restrictive, it's not even in line with other walls and doesn't work for me, so I'd almost certainly get rid of it and the soffit and use area rugs and such to define the spaces as I wanted.

However, I'm wondering, if the proportion of the current dining and living areas really worked for me, whether I might consider moving the wing wall on the right back in line with the hall wall and echoing it on the left to create definitions for the different functions that (to me more attractive) way and frame the view to the kitchen.

so so so similar to the space in my other house...half wall and all. I always hated the half wall because it became a catchall for "stuff". Never served any function. I"d get rid of it.

yes I think it would be advantageous to get rid of both the soffit and the half wall. Also like Rosie said if you could frame in the other side of that opening to match the other side that might look nice but otherwise since I don't think you can as they don't align I'd just nix it altogether. You are on the right path. Good plan!!!

I'd like to see the wall gone, but are you planning on new floors? It's likely that the flooring doesn't cover under the wall, so you'll be looking at either hiring a very good flooring contractor to weave in pieces of flooring that you hopefully have sitting in your attic or replacing the floors in one or both rooms to cover the floor under the wall.

We are living with our 3rd open layout and love it. I think if you remove the wall, you will have more function and space.
When you take it up and the flooring gets damaged, you can use small tiles or a darker wood to frame the table area in the floor. It would require cutting some of the untouched wood, but the overall look will give definition while preserving the space. It should also be easier and cheaper than trying to blend the old with the new. If you make it look on purpose, it will solve your problem nicely.

Thanks all for your feedback. You've confirmed that taking the wall down is indeed a good idea.

Our contractor costs do include patching the floor underneath the wall. We planned on having the entire floor refinished anyway (I may go a bit darker) so they will just "piano key" new strips of floor into the old and when it's done I'm told I won't be able to tell it was patched.

I'll be sure to post pictures when we're done. Thanks again!