The lower part of the door was very beat up and needed new stain and of course that means staining the whole door. The sanding and preparations take the longest. I started with 80 grit to remove the stain and then a 120 grit for preparation. I had to sand the trim close to the windows by hand as i could not get any tool in there (even with my Dremel). I didn't want to go with a finer grit to make sure that the grains would be looking nice when putting on the stain.

Multiple stains were tested to get to the right color. It is very hard to see what it will look like based on the picture in the store or the picture on the paint can. We ended up with a Minwax stain called "natural" but it still darkens the wood quite a lot.