Skirting Board

Sorry not answering really your question, but...

You can't make it look like hardwood.

Be aware that any irregularity in the wall, that would normally be filled with caulk when painting, can't be. Only a perfect wall will result in a great result. You can of course match the filler colour to the wood, but it is obviously a lot harder and never perfect.

-- Mike W

Hi Trica

First of all, you can't stain softwood to look like hardwood. It will look like softwood stained hardwood colour. The grain patterns are entirely different. If that's acceptable, don't use a coloured varnish - they look terrible. Stain the softwood first with wood stain & varnish over.

Any filler used to cover screw/nail holes will show. Some wood fillers can be stained, but they still show.

I think I might prefer a wax finish, but it's down to preference really.

Best thing here is to use plug cutter and cut out wood plugs to fit in screw holes

Which "hardwood" do you want it to look like? Most are pretty pale in their natural state. Caustic soda with vandyke crystals was the traditional way of "killing" the brightness in new softwood. Caustic with strong tea is a good substitute. Once the background colour is more subdued, anything else you apply on top will look better, but strong colours on bare softwood always look terrible.

You won't be able to do it so that you can't tell the difference. If you want to stain it, use spirit-based stain such as Colron, *not* quick-drying paint-on.