Quantum Hall bilayer systems at filling fractions near ν=1/2+1/2 undergo a transition from a compressible phase with strong intralayer correlation to an incompressible phase with strong interlayer correlations as the layer separation d is reduced below some critical value. Deep in the intralayer phase (large separation) the system can be interpreted as a fluid of composite fermions (CFs), whereas deep in the interlayer phase (small separation) the system can be interpreted as a fluid of composite bosons (CBs). The focus of this paper is to understand the states that occur for intermediate layer separation by using trial variational wave functions. We consider two main classes of wave functions. In the first class, previously introduced in Möller et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 101, 176803 (2008)], we consider interlayer BCS pairing of two independent CF liquids. We find that these wave functions are exceedingly good for d≳ℓ0 with ℓ0 as the magnetic length. The second class of wave functions naturally follows the reasoning of Simon et al. [Phys. Rev. Lett. 91, 046803 (2003)] and generalizes the idea of pairing wave functions by allowing the CFs also to be replaced continuously by CBs. This generalization allows us to construct exceedingly good wave functions for interlayer spacings of d≲ℓ0 as well. The accuracy of the wave functions discussed in this work, compared with exact diagonalization, approaches that of the celebrated Laughlin wave function.