Whats the best way to have Carpet to Tile meet on stairs?

Okay the tile guy wants to put in a metal nose guard. I said that is out of the question. The main floor is all travertine tile and coming up from the basement the staircase will be in carpet. On the top stair clearly the carpet and tile will have to meet. Basically im saying im not going to spend that much on tile to have a metal nose guard. There is nothing more ugly. I know its for protection to a point. But is there another way this can be done without the nose guard. Like maybe take the tile down the kick board on the first step.

What are other options on this assuming there is no way I will pick the metal nose guard. What are the other best options, if you know of any pictures or links that show what has been done that would be great.

Thanks in advance.