My kitchen facelift will be done soon, but I wanted to give those of you struggling with the golden oak dilemma a glimpse as to what we did. We have painters who worked up several samples on the inside of our cabinets to select from. They were able to do anything darker than the original. They then washed and lightly sanded the cabinets, even the veneers. They applied two coats of a stain-lacquer mix(they used sprayers) and a final coat of the clear lacquer. The entire process for a small/average size kitchen is 4 days with 3 guys. The cost is $1400.

Let me know if you want me to ask them any questions about the process. I think the only down side to this process is since the wood is not actually restained, a deep scratch will reveal the orinal color.

Here is a link that might be useful: Updated cabinets