Banister Makeover

When we moved into our house, there were a few projects that I knew I wanted to tackle right away. One of those projects was re-painting the banister. It was a lovely shade of oak... which I could not stand! I've seen pictures of oak banisters that look just fine, but oak is not my style.... that was my way of saying "No offense if you have an oak banister... I'm sure it looks great, it just isn't for me!" I tried to ignore it,  but I am not very good at that. Once I have my mind set on something, I can't stop thinking about it, which I'm sure Mr. Crane LOVES. I started this project while he was at work one day. Here is the before and after:

What do you think??! I still can't decide what to do with the oak part of the actual step... because painting it would be quite a challenge with it butting up next to that carpet (another one of my fave features of the house... NOT!) Any suggestions? I thought about trying to paint it white or black. Has anyone done this with carpet right next to it? I am envisioning a HUGE mess.

Supplies Needed:
-Foam brushes
-Good quality paint brush
-Paint tray
-Primer (I used Kilz so I wouldn't have to sand... can you imagine trying to sand all of this?!)
-White paint (I used semi-gloss paint for trim, the previous homeowners left it for us)
-Polycrylic (it can be used over white paint without yellowing)
-An entire afternoon... this project took WAY longer than I thought it would!

Total Cost:
$1 for foam brushes
** We had EVERYTHING else on hand, hooray!