With... or without?

Our living room windows have wooden pieces on them that gives the illusion that there are several panes of glass instead of one large window. Lately I've been thinking about taking them off. I did the other day and took a few before and after pictures so I could see what you think.

Here is an older picture of our living room...

And here are the before/after window pictures...

WITH

WITHOUT

WITH

WITHOUT
 

WITH

WITHOUT

These windows are also in the living room on the other wall, and they don't have the "panes." The windows in the dining room do, but the other windows in the house are quite random... there is one on a half of the kitchen window, one of ours, both of Ryan's... but none upstairs. So not having them on all the windows is a factor, too... we don't plan on having them made, because that isn't an important expense that we don't plan on putting into our budget, Also, our house is not new. It was built in 1964 and I don't necessarily want it to look "modern" in any sense; I like the old feel of it with all of the original hardwood and wood work. But the panes were starting to feel "jail-ish" to me in a sense... I feel like it's way more "open" without them. It's kind of a way to "lighten up" the room without having to change anything else.

So, what do you think? Jake's vote is to leave them off, and I'm leaning in that direction as well.

Also, those cheap "shades" are there to stay... our budget is super tight when it comes to home decorating, but we needed something to cover the windows (especially since I'm having a home birth in January, haha). Any ideas for curtains or something to pretty it up? You can see in the section with the bay window that there isn't a lot of ceiling above the windows, so I'm not sure what to do there. Help me out, creative friends!! :] I'm good at organization but my decorating skills (on a budget) are lacking.