And now for a simple project...

I have no idea what was going on with our internet yesterday, but it looks like it's back up and running now (knock on wood).

Anyway, I posted a few weeks ago about my painting project from hell upstairs in the bonus room.  Between the yellow-ish paint and the honey colored wood, it just wasn't working.  At all.  Here's what it looked like before (sorry about the ridiculously large font on the photos--I clearly still have more to learn in Photoshop):

Here's what it looked like pre-wall paint and post-trim paint.

The only problem?  The handrail.  I didn't want the honey-colored wood, obviously, but I didn't want it white either.  I've been gravitating towards dark colors in this house and there are some black accents that I want to eventually pull in here and there and figured this was the perfect spot to start. 

So I removed the handrail, sanded it down and stained it black.  The little metal supports that attach the handrail to the wall were really gross, but I didn't really feel like making a trip to the hardware store that day, so I dug out a can of hammered nickel spray paint and voila!

(sorry it's a little blurry)

Total cost for my little handrail makeover?  Less than 5 bucks.  Love that!  I'm still debating if I want anything on the walls in the staircase.  I was kind of leaning towards a gallery-style look, but now I'm undecided.  Is that look over done?  More importantly I have no idea if I'm able to pull it off well. 

Thoughts?