Well of course you can put up a nice screen...thinking wood carved. However, I think the space would be better off embracing the 2 areas without the defined demarcation you are trying for. If you were to center the sofa table to both areas (where the vase and pedestal are currently) it would provide for a nice focal on entry to the room. Setting the hutch at an angle spanning the corner would work to give the room a more balanced feel. Without a view of the entire room and basic layout it's difficult to make recommendations. We can only work with what you are privileging us to. It's a good sized space from the looks of it and a room that should work together. Right now it feels purposefully disjointed. Another thought would be to wainscot the dining portion to set it apart if you really feel the need. I would do this the height of the hutch. Typically a larger rug is used to demarcate the areas. Perhaps butt the 2 longer rugs together on the dining room portion.

I understand needing some sort of half or pony wall for safety along the stairs, but why do you want to close off the kitchen from the entry? Sliding glass doors would look completely out of place there. Perhaps French doors might be a possibility if you really want a separation from the entry? if you line them up with a full wall (not half height) next to the stairs it would still be enclosed but look intentional. Just a thought.

Wondering on what to do with the extra space(hallway/wardrobe at left and living room entrance at right). The main problem is that both my entrances are very small and this particular space would be great to store a few things...I was thinking of building something to store coats and boots with hockey equipment at the bottom...if you have any other suggestions please feel free to share :)

The closet is like a half height closet bc it's under the stairs. We actually keep the cat litter box in there and keep the door cracked open for kitty. I plan to install a cat door for her to go in and out so we don't have to keep the door cracked. There is plenty of space to open the door and walk in the closet to clean the box even with this table there believe it or not. I really just want a nice clean, uncluttered, pretty space to look at when we come home/leave and walk through this area everyday.