Yeah period colors are wild. Can't wait to see it.
I've done more hardwood floors than I can count espcially old ones. There are a few ways of dealing with them. 1. sand straight to the wood, stain, and poly a few coats to look new. I only do that with the worst. 2. Light sanding almost by hand then stain to match where there are issues. Then poly a few coats. Leave imperfections for character. 3. Light sand, stain to make it uniform and poly. I've done all three and all work to various degrees. I prefer to leave the imperfections and live them. In my house it is a 120+ years old so it is ok to look lived in...