Major Staining!

I have been working on a major wood staining project this weekend.  Now I remember how  much I love staining wood.  You take a blank, unfinished chunk of bare wood.  In this case I am working with tulip poplar which is the southern state's equivalent to pine.  Without stain it doesn't look like much.  Put a nice coat of stain on it and the beauty of the wood, although not as gorgeous as oak, shows through.  Lines show up that were barely visible before.  Patterns appear where no pattern was before.  Some sections appear pink or grey.  Places were a branch grew through a board show very dark.  Putting stain on wood is almost like opening a book and being able to read the story.  As I put the stain on and see the transformation, I don't know for sure what will appear on each board.  I didn't buy enough golden oak stain and had to go back to the hardware store to buy more.  This is a big project and I am not going to be stingy with the wood stain. My entire house smells terrible with the reek of wood stain.  Staining is fun though.  I forgot how much I liked it.