"Mountain Industrial" is apparently a thing. I wasn't aware of it until my bride exploited my ignorance by sending me examples and ideas...
Natural wood, metal accents, welded wire... right down my alley. Throw in the ability to add some diamond plate accents and I was all in.
I had picked up a bundle of 1 x 1 x1/16" aluminum angle at an estate sale a while back; this finally seemed like a good project on which to use it. Primed and painted it satin black and wrapped the corners of the posts with it; secured them with #4 black truss head screws. The top caps are black diamond plate with a 1-1/2" angle cap frame.
I had a couple of Wild Hog track kits left over from the outdoor railings I installed last summer, but apparently HD and Lowes have dropped the Wild Hog product line and replaced it with a similar system by Trex. The wire panels appear to be identical, but the tracks are different. I was able to make them work together.
Still have the finished top rails to install. I cut and planed them to size, My wife is handling the staining and finishing.
The railing section that butts up to the fireplace was a bit of a challenge. Took longer than the rest of the sections combined, but I am happy with the way it turned out. I used 5" Tapcon screws to secure the frame to the fireplace. It's really solid. (Paging
@Dan in Pasadena ....
)
Still have way to go on this project, but at least the loft is fall-proof again. Hope to get the rest of the trim finished up before our next houseguests arrive next week...
More to come.
Way more than I expected, but a fitting tribute to a good friend and neighbor. We got it done just in time for the one year anniversary of his passing. 
Two of the post covers had to be sculpted to cover the logs on the inside and outside corners.
