I’m interested in learning about how to restore the original appearance to woodwork in our 1910 craftsman foursquare.

Some of the trim, plus some of the doors and the two fireplaces, has what appears to be the original dark finish. Other parts of the trim have been modified over the years. Much of it has white paint. Some sections have relatively new wood immediately adjacent to the old wood, as when a window was converted into a door, and the original window trim had vertical sections added on each side to turn the window opening into a door frame.

1. What’s the best way to remove the paint? Is there any method which would remove paint but leave the original finish intact? We have been told that in at least some areas, the original finish was faux wood graining over pine. I don’t know if that means the original faux graining was done with pigments sufficiently chemically distinct from the layers of subsequent paint that it might react differently to some form of paint remover, thus being able to be preserved.

2. If we remove paint from the areas where newer (likely 21st century) wood is immediately adjacent to old wood, and we try to apply a dark wood finish to match the original as closely as possible, will the two woods react differently, or absorb the stain differently, or in some way end up looking different? Obviously that’s not what we want. The paint’s not ideal, but it might be better than a wooden door frame that changes color on the bottom two feet.

I’ll be very grateful for any help.