Photo Pool Challenge: Finishing

We stripped the wood work in the bedroom this weekend. Since we hired someone to do the stripping part, the hardest part for us was emptying the room. It took quite a few hours over two days. Now that the entire room is empty, we are also having a chimney guy over to make a repair in the fireplace. Then we started thinking, hey, this would be a good time to make any plaster repairs. Heck, we may as well paint while we’re at it. And maybe put up those curtains we’ve had lying around forever… We’ll eventually paper this room, but probably not for a year or two. First we need to practice on the hallway, then plaster and paper the living room. But we do need to make a decision about how to finish all the stripped wood work before we proceed. Should we stain it and finish it exactly as it was originally? Stain it and wax it? Just wax it? The wood is poplar. It originally had a faux mahogany stain and a shiny finish — either shellac or varnish. Does anyone know what’s involved in these three different approaches? Shellac seems a bit daunting because it’s so smelly and toxic, so we’d probably have to hire someone to do that. Wax sounds so easy. Do you just rub it on and you’re done? Also, we’ve heard it’s difficult to get the stain color consistent — but we could use a premixed stain. Will it get all over the wall, do you think? Please post photos and stories here.