We are having a covered patio (flat sloped roof, no gable) added on to the back of our home. Posts and beams will be rough cut western red cedar, but we could not afford cedar for the ceiling so we will be using tongue and groove pine. The contractor needs us to pick a stain color for the pine asap. He recommended a dark stain for the pine, but we are uneasy about that, as the ceiling won't be very high (sloped maybe 10-8'?). We lean toward some type of lighter tone, something that gives it a finished look without making the ceiling appear super low. Have been playing around with stain color samples on conditioned pine boards and really like the color of Minwax Early American. But I'm unsure how that brownish-tone of the Early American will look next to the reddish-tone of the cedar? No experience with cedar, so I'm not sure how we will seal/treat it. I'm not good at visualizing and can't find pictures of anyone else that has posted such. Any recommendations? Please teach me!