Staircase Railing help?

Here's a pic of trying to use a railing for stairs leading down into a pit like this. I completely hate it, and there is no option to fix it. It's this or nothing. I also threw some counters in to show another pet peeve. The backsplash continues around the corner that is not against the wall. The half walls hide this a little, but if you don't want the wall, you are just out of luck. How could they have let problems like this not only get through, but not fix it coming up on two years later?!

http://i1371.photobucket.com/albums/ag300/Liz_Amsden/04-12-16_7-30-58nbspPM_zps9fp85zwk.png