You often can substitute a look-alike wood for more than one wood species, such as alder for walnut or cherry, red gum for walnut or mahogany, and yellow poplar for a variety of woods.Click to see full answer. Just so, what wood is similar to Walnut? poplar Likewise, can you stain poplar to look like walnut? It can be made to look just like walnut, and also cherry. It’s true that poplar and walnut have different pore structures, but their grain patterns are very similar, especially when plain sawn. Poplar takes oil based stains very well. Subsequently, question is, can PINE be stained to look like walnut? This is most often true when someone tries to stain one kind of wood to look like another, more expensive wood. Finishing a piece of pine with walnut stain does not make it look like walnut any more than staining a gravel driveway orange-red makes it look like brick.Can mahogany be stained to look like walnut?Mahogany is too red to “look like” walnut. That’s why it needs to be toned first.