We recently built a nice home where the homeowners chose to have us put in a lot of tongue and groove pine.  On top of that, they wanted pine doors.  Well, I was a little nervous, because this was a very high priced home.  I thought the pine would probably make it look cheap.  However, my painter did put a glazing over all of the wood and then did a clear coat of varnish over that.  To say the least, I was very impressed with the results.  In fact, much of the pine was near their knotty-alder cabinets.  The glazing on the pine made it look just like the alder. 

Glazing has become very popular on cabinets, but don't be afraid to try it on other things also.

Happy home plan Hunting.