My mum refurbishes antique furniture and when I fitted new skirting boards and door frames she recomended staining them with a mixture of linseed oil and pure turpentine. The linseed oil gives it a little colour and the turpentine really brings out the grain of the wood. You just wipe it on with an old cloth leave it to dy and then varnish it with Acrilic clear varnish. Acrilic varnish is slightly expensive, but it wont turn yellow like oil based varnish does. Really pleased with the results, it all looks great.