refinishing wood door

[pamela]

Our wood front door is about 8 years old, but the finish had worn away before we bought it 2 years ago.  Then DH broke one of the windows, which we are getting fixed right now.  They are out there replacing the trim around all 4 panes because they couldn't find an exact match.  Now the question is do we try to stain it or just redo the finish on the outside?  And advice on finish to use? It faces east and while there is an overhang, it apparently does get a lot of UV based on the damage.

Staining means we have to do both sides, but the inside does have some staple holes because we had to try to waterproof it for a hurricane last year.  I'm sort of scared to see what the inside looks like when the black plastic comes off after 9+ months.  If we stain we'd probably go dark.   

[pamela]

Here's the door.

[FoxInFiji]

I would definitely try to stick with stain on the exterior because of the matching transom jamb and it looks like it's in good shape. The wood adds a nice richness to the white trim and light colored house.

Inside though if the wood is in bad condition from the plastic I would consider painting it. You have a two toned look. We're planning to buy a door that way (though a fiberglass one) with a dark wood grain exterior and painted interior. Because the dark color we want to use outside won't go well with our cherry trim inside.