This room was covered in dark paneling. I painted the whole room antique white, and then used my brother's willingness to help out for a few days to sand the floor, which was badly stained. I used the darkest stain possible, Mahogany, and then applied it, removing it randomly, and then brushing it out so that in some areas, the wood appears...in others, it is masked by the stain. Applied one gallon of satin polyurethane to the room, and though it looks 'hand scraped', it has a pleasing intentional effect.