In other news....this is still a work in progress, but there's progress: it's primed and glued to the wall!
After the handyman left, I caulked the heck out of that whole area. There were gaps and areas where the wood didn't quite line up, which weren't obvious when it was varnished wood but were painfully obvious after I applied white primer.
I haven't totally ruled out some accent pieces on the tops and sides of the bracket-shaped parts [ ], but sometimes more is too much...