Now need to change entire house?!?!

Ok, here is the stair bannister going up into the loft area:


This looks ok to me at the moment. But here is the bannister going into the hallway from the front corridor:


(There really are no black dots going up the left side of the bannister! Those popped up when I shrank the pic for the blog!~sigh~)

I'm not so sure I like this one after putting all that time into that aggravating orb finial :( The light colored raw wood beneath it just doesn't work for me! So should I paint it? Also that wood upright beam that the orb sits on...should I paper it to match the bannisters?

DH says he likes it just fine the way it is; but then again, he likes the "rustic country" look in the house. I'm not sure that wallpaper, the granite effect and that wood work together. I am just not sure I like it now and not sure what to do to make it look better to me.

HELP!!