Run a peice of quarter round up the gap, or some other trim you like. You might also want to glue and nail 1/4 round to the front of each step to give it that rounded look of a real wood stair before you prime and paint.
It was simple, all you need is a small pry bar. It didn't even leave a mark on the wood.
I have removed loads o' carpet before from my former homes etc., the tack strips never gave me any issues. Seems the carpet guys (or perhaps it is the years of use) leave them a tad bit loose and a pry bar goes right under them without having to use a hammer.
It was the staples that held down the nasty padding that gave me the biggest fits.
OMG, I found a few perscription pills, spider webs(!!??), dry dog food and dead flys under this carpet! YUCK!! It was by far the most disgusting carpet removing job I ever had to do. (Plus the padding was moist-ish! )
That was it, the staples!!! The house we used to live in had old oak under the green shag when we moved in. We pulled it out. Now I remember it was the dreaded stapes that were horrid. I must have blocked that memory!!!
A few years ago we decided to paint the stairs in our house and I was really worried about them being slippery. I tend to hurry down the stairs, and I am always in socks or barefoot...
So what I decided to do, read it in a magazine somewhere... was prime, paint, sprinkle some gritty sand on the tacky paint, let it dry and then paint again. Just sprinkle a little and only on the top where you will be walking.
Voila! Textured paint and me not falling on my bum!