I just finished laying 5" tongue and groove southern yellow pine in my living room and I bought enough to do almost the rest of the house. It's now time to sand and stain the living room (I'd like to get one room completely finished in case it takes me a while to get to the other rooms and I have trimwork and such to do as well).

I would like to NOT have the complete country look of unfinished pine. I would like to darken the pine a bit, but not trying to make it look like mahogany or anything that dark. Maybe like a little orangish red or mellow golden color. I've tried some oil based stains from minwax and their wood conditioner, but the conditioner made the stain not absorb as well (and I learned afterwards this is their purpose I suppose).

I've read on a few sites about finishing pine. Some suggest using conditioner, some say wet the wood and sand it then apply the stain while the wood is still damp. Some say to varnish it first then stain it, and still some say to perform complex religious rituals using pig entrails before staining.

I realize that pine is blotchy by nature, especially new growth yellow pine. However, I've seen pictures of yellow pine that has been darkened slightly and they look great, not blotchy.

Anyone have a tried and true method that works more or less better than others?

Thanks!

I recommend using Waterlox ( https://www.waterlox.com/default.aspx )
You can apply a polyurethane finish over it if you wish after it is completely dry. You can mix oil-based stains in with the waterlox finish to get just the right look you're going for. You will need to experiment with some different colors mixed in different ratios with the waterlox finish. The folks at waterlox are very helpful and happy to answer any questions you may have.

I visited their web site. Looks like it's a good product, I'll order some and give it a whirl.

Much thanks for the recomendation!