Wood Steps

Getting ready to paint our stairs to the 2nd floor. They are in rough shape and are not oak like the rest of the surrounding floors are. We want to paint them but can’t find the right Rust-Oleum paint to do the job. Please help! The person at the paint counter informed us that you “don’t walk on Rust-Oleum”. Well, I know better then that. I’m just trying to figure out what to use for my steps.