"Sean" wrote in message

That was my fear.

I would prefer to keep a nice finish on the pine (ie: stain and varnish)

Depending on the design, it may be possible to stain the pine and paint the
mdf a color close or even contrasting. That sort of thing comes down to
personal preference of what the recipient thinks looks good. Heck, I only
own two colors of socks to eliminate the guesswork of what matches.