Voila!

The big finish.

We finally finished the bedroom floor and it looks pretty darned good, if I do say so myself. We made plenty of mistakes along the way, but now we know better for next time. Today, the bedroom. Tomorrow, the world!

Here are the steps we followed:
1. Cut and remove carpet
2. Cut and remove carpet padding
3. Remove tack strips from around perimeter of room
4. Pull ~100 small nails from all over the floor
5. Scrape off largest paint spills
6. Spread paint stripper ("orange goo")
7. Remove paint stripper
8. Apply second coat of paint stripper
9. Remove second coat of paint stripper
10. Apply post-stripper "wash" (actually pretty caustic)
11. Rent floor sander; sand entire floor with 80-grit sandpaper
12. Repeat with 120-grit
13. Repeat with 180-grit
14. Remove dust with vacuum and tack cloths
15. Apply wood pre-treatment
16. Apply stain; wipe off after 7 minutes
17. Despair over condition of stain, sanding, life, etc.
18. Apply second coat of stain; wipe off after 3 minutes
19. Clean entire floor with tack cloths again
20. Apply first clear finish coat
21. Apply second clear finish coat
22. Open windows, leave house, breathe deeply
23. Wait one week...
24. Admire handiwork; find faults; drink heavily
25. Replace bedroom furniture. Done!