What have I done?

I have ripped out a perfectly acceptable (I use the term loosely) carpet in our hall in order to strip, stain and varnish the treads and handrails. I know it will be worth it in the end. It's just managing to save my sanity until the end, that's causing the anxiety.

before

 after

Once I tried stripping with get paint stripper, I knew we needed a faster method; I now have a turbo-charger heat gun that works really well, but it is still taking a lot more time than anticipated. I'll still have to use paint stripper to pull out some of the previous woodstain, but progress will be seen. Eventually.