Plywood and veneer

I am in the midst of building my built-in shelves and desk. When I was in the design phase, I thought about a number of different materials. The look I was/am going for is old-school, dark stained, floor to ceiling library. Building it out of pine, while certainly the cheapest, would look either too cheap or too country to get the look I am trying to achieve. I don't have the shop to do a hardwood desktop so that was also out of the question. My next consideration was veneer.
There are lots of good veneers out there. Some of the most exotic woods and beautiful grains are available in a wide scale of prices. Looking for the lowest price but most appropriate wood type, I decided on an acceptable veneer. Then I added up how much material I would need. Price multiplied by sq. ft and I very quickly started looking for another option. The total price for veneer, for this particular project - a lot of surfaces involved - ended up being around $2000. That is both literally and figuratively on top of the base materials needed to build the structure of the desk.
My final choice was to go with a formaldehyde-free birch finish plywood. 5 sheets of 3/4" and one sheet of 1/2" was exactly enough to do the job (I hope... I'm pretty sure... I'll know soon). Total price was around $260. Much better. Yet one concern did, and still does, exist.
The idea of building something nice out of plywood, to me, is a bit of an oxymoron. Something about plywood - stained, painted or otherwise - always reminds me of that stereo cabinet I build in high school shop class. In a week or two, when I step back and look at the finished product, will I realize that my new cubicle resembles the inside of a plywood box? I hope not.
One thing that has helped me continue on, though. I was perfectly happy with veneer. Albeit, I was going to go for something cool, but birch isn't a bad wood. In fact, birch is pretty easy to finish in a way that looks quite handsome. So why then, do I have this prejudice against plywood. After all, plywood is nothing more than a series of veneers. I repeat this to myself as I cut or stain or edge band or poly. It's helping me move along.
In the back of my head I think 'I can just apply a veneer later, if I can't stand it'.