We are renovating a 1905 Victorian. I stripped and stained the downstairs woodwork/trim and headed up stairs to work in the trim/woodwork (baseboards, window/door trim/doors) only to find that it is pine (was told possibly southern yellow pine). Well my husband hoped for a medium/dark brown stain but it looks horrible. I have tried wiping stain, wiping stain with wood conditioner first, and gel stain) I don’t like it. The woodwork had shellac on it (I stripped the baseboards and three windows already). I am thinking maybe I should have just cleaned up the shellac and made it nice again.