Painting the Stair Rails and Kitchen Trim

We decided to paint our stairwell railings dark so that they matched the floor stain better (they were previously stained an orange-y color).  I used the same black paint that I used on the fireplace tile, and it looks much better.  I really would've preferred an espresso brown paint I think, but we had the black paint already so I just used it.

I also painted the wood "backsplash" in our kitchen.  Luckily the builder actually used wood in here instead of MDF like everywhere else in the house where there's moisture (i.e. every bathroom). Now we just need to get rid of the brass knobs!  I also want to eventually replace the microwave with a pretty stainless hood.

BEFORE

AFTER 

(I've also cleaned the microwave vent since this picture was taken - yuck!)

It really bothers me that the kitchen cabinets don't go all the way up to the ceiling, but at least someone enjoys it!

Next step in the transformation was painting the ugly beige tile around the fireplace.  I would eventually like to put pretty stone here instead, but this will have to do temporarily.