No, don't hang pictures on them...in fact, I think they would look best if you remove all the ornaments and just let the spindles and woodwork be the ornamentation. Or.....I'm not sure what the rest of your house looks like, but it's possible the woodwork would look more contemporary of you painted it gray, or even navy blue?

I will try taking all ornaments down tomorrow. When I looked at the picture just now I thought wow that's a cluttered mess. Thank you.

Make sure you post an After pic!