To Paint or Not To Paint?

The panniers are done, mounted, and a few days of warm (meaning 40-ish F) have provided the opportunity to ride test. I've put in 60+ miles with them on, and nary a rattle or shake. I can hardly tell that they're back there, and they haul some stuff too.

The question now is finishing. We've been discussing a number of options, from leaving them as-is, rust and all, to straight black, to a mimic of the bike colors. Isaiah painted one of his black, but he wasn't happy with it. The other question, if we decide to go ahead and paint them, is what kind of paint to use. Do we just rattle can it, or do we try to use some higher quality paint, or even have them painted up somewhere. Going too far with the paint kind of violates the spirit of the project, but we do want the bikes to look nice with the cans on.

Isaiah is working on getting his title work done so he can license the bike, hopefully within the next couple of weeks. I'm looking forward to getting out on the road together.