I used redwood for window trim in my shop, because I had some sitting around. It's nice. I wouldn't use it for base, where it would have to contend with brooms or vacuum cleaners; there's not much you can do to protect it.

Thanks for the response. Are you saying it would be a BIG mistake to use redwood for base molding? People use pine all the time.

Redwood is considerably softer than pine. I don't know that it would be a BIG mistake, but it would be delicate. I've seen whole rooms paneled in redwood, and I like it; just don't expect it to take a lot of abuse. If you have big, open rooms and don't tend to bang into stuff, you'd probably be fine.

The company who is selling me the redwood suggested applying polyurethane and using shoe molding for extra protection. I was considering using red oak with a clear lacure for the base molding and redwood 1x6 S4S for window and door trim. The redwood cost $1.7/lf and the oak $2.05/lf. I also have pine windows and dark maple hardwood floors. I prefer NOT to overly stain the wood - I would rather have the natural colors come out even though I have a variety of wood spieces. Suggestions?