Sand it all back down. You will need to take some left over material (or the back of a cabinet) and mix stains until you find something close. Once you get the stain where you want it, stain the cabinets. Then use a clear varnish on it rather than poly.

This is tough because photographs don't always show colors accurately. But on my screen, your first photograph looks overall too much brown/gold. I say go darker so there's more contrast and richness. Take this with a grain of salt of course and go with what looks good in real life (and with what you like).

Alternatively, you could change the hardware. On my screen, looks like a polished brass...polished nickel would tone down the gold.

Change the top coat. You should be using a water based finish, not an oil based one.

Maple does NOT like stain.

We are finding that out, we knew it was going to be a challenge and we are up for that challenge....I do seem to agree with the "finish" being the problem, because the stain looks pretty good before we get to that step....thanks for the advice and I will post what we do as we go....

To me the second picture is just exactly what you should expect with maple cabinets. The first pic doesn't look like maple at all. Maple is a very hard, dense wood that doesn't accept stain. That's why people pick maple so they can get the look of picture #2.

At the cabinet shop I worked, we did mostly maple and cherry cabs. We didn't have problems with staining, but like Cancork Flooring Inc. said, it does turn yellow in sunlight.
Other than the sun, as others have said, your poly turns yellow. You need a clear conversion varnish. Sanding and re-staining/refinishing would be necessary.

If you are able to find a product that remains more clear you may still want to compensate for the yellowing of the wood. You could actually tint your finish (or any clear coat) slightly on the purplish brown side to off set it. It would be something like a toner. If you have a paint store that will help you go there. I worked in coatings for years and always did my own adjustments. You look at the color opposite on the color wheel to counteract too much of something. Too much yellow add purple, too much green add red...

How about adding a redwood color stain to the yellow to get that warm color you want? I have natural cherry cabinets and stained a maple mantle in the same room. The mantle's now a warm color that I love!

My new maple cabinets, Mauser, were purchased finished at the factory. They have a chocolate 'glaze' applied and are not yellow/golden but what I call a carmel color. I know nothing, but might check into glazes.

Remember that a "glaze" is a tint coating. The more coats applied the darker the color becomes. So if you scratch thru or chip the "glaze" you are back to the color beneath. Secondly achieving a uniform coloration on all cabinets is difficult. Lastly repairing a scratch or chip in a glaze, so it disappears, can be a real sob.
As for maple lumber there are two varieties. Normally when you think of maple you are thinking of northern hard maple. The stuff butcher blocks are made of. Because of its density it is difficult to get a stain to penetrate. Best left clear. There is also what is called northern "soft" maple. This is what the furniture industry uses. Uniform in color and much easier to machine, less burning, easier on tooling than northern hard maple. It can be stained, normally very light colors such as a butternut, and finishes well.
Determining the effect your top coat will have on the overall color is very simple. Open a full can, quart or gallon it doesn't matter. When you peer thru the liquid in the can if the bottom is as bright and shiny as the inside of the lid is, then it is clear. Normally all top coats start as gloss. If it says eggshell, semi gloss or whatever that means that a flattening agent has been added.

Yes, Glaze should help and can be transforming! The picture below is glaze over oak, so you'd need to check on proper product and technique for maple. Good luck!

After Glaze:

Before Glaze

We have maple cabinets with a lot of curl. We had a very light color on it. They have changed color a bit in the 14 years, deepening and mellowing and they are beautiful. I think the "yellowness" mellows depending on the wall color. Northern hardwood maple can be penetrated with a stain if you get a product to open up the grain first before applying the stain. Check the web to learn this technique.

You might want to find an expert woodworker or furniture restorer to help.

The proper way to give any wood a different "tint" is with aniline dyes. Aniline dyes offer excellent color control without obscuring the wood grain. Even maple takes aniline dyes beautifully. Having said that, if you want something made of wood you have to respect the natural beauty and variance of the wood instead of trying to make it something it isn't.

I agree with nirvanaav about using aniline dyes. You can purchase them online and experiment with scrap pieces of wood and different finishes. I just started a project to match an antique maple finish and am very enthusiastic about the possibilities and the control of the color. You might be up to experimenting a little to get the look you really, really want--you'll love the cabinets all the more because you "bonded" with them! But to do this, you'd be sanding down to bare wood and starting over again--you'd need some determination and energy. And patience.

If sanding and starting all over isn't for you, I think you could also experiment with a glaze that you apply to the surface with just a hint of color. Glazes can be amazing because they can add wonderful depth. I have to disagree that just because it is a glaze, it will not be durable.

IF you found a glaze color that got you exactly the look you wanted, the glaze can be top coated with several thin coats of finish, such as wipe on clear (water-based) polyurethane (satin or gloss). Easy to apply and get a thin coat, and additional thin coats slowly build up a much more durable finish. Finish off with a little light steel wool to polish and it gives a silky surface.

(BTW, this kind of tonal glazing was commonly done on wood in the mid-1800s to 1920s, and I have seen many examples that are still holding up amazingly well. They just have a series of thin top coats instead of one thick one. Even though most of them are with oil varnish, modern woodworkers use thin coats of water-based poly often and it yields similar outcomes.)

Good luck, whatever you do. Nothing like a project like this to help us appreciate the beauty of natural wood, one way or another.

Thank you for all your comments! We have no problem sanding down what we have completed already! We have a few products that we are going to try and will keep you posted-with pics- as we go....luckily...we are not in a hurry!

Old English makes a liquid product to clean and moisturize wood that comes in at least three shades: dark or yellow or red. Putting the darkest color or the red color on lighter wood noticeably darkens the wood. Not sure how it would do on yellow stain. I'd try it on scrap first.

Old English makes a liquid product to clean and moisturize wood that comes in at least three shades: dark or yellow or red. Putting the darkest color or the red color on lighter wood noticeably darkens the wood. Not sure how it would do on yellow stain. I'd try it on scrap first.

^Worst advice ever. Properly finished wood never needs to be ''moisturized''. The finish seals it. Oily glop over unfinished wood renders it unfinishable until the oily glop is cleaned off of it by sanding down to bare wood.

I'm telling you Sophie... it grows like fungi, doesn't it!

Charles Neil's pre conditioner or blotch control will help a lot with blotchy maple. There are many methods to control blotch but it is a simple buy and apply deal that works.

It is a million to one that you will match that finish as to begin with it is a picture and not an actual piece of wood in front of you. The finisher can be using and mix of stains, dyes, glazes, tinted clears, etc, etc. Sprayed vs wiped will also achieve different results. You chose maple and maple well looks like maple so embrace the color or choose another wood. Cab mfg's use low grade woods and simply paint to look like the wood they advertise. Look closely at cabs in stores and you can see the blotchy painted finishes vs seeing the wood itself.

Choose a stain that works for you and use the above and a water based poly or re cat lacquer and be happy. I love General Finishes products especially their gel stains for quick noticeable change. More subtle colors can be achieved with their glazes. Their clears can be rolled on and flow out like they were sprayed. Best of all they are made for the do it yourself. The also have a pro line if needed.

Good luck.

Yes, thank you! We did use a conditioner! Thanks for the info on how mfgs get their colors! I think that the oil based poly was the issue I was struggling with...I will post pics as we go!

Hello, how's it going?

everdebz...life has gotten in the way....we did take the cabinets down and re-sanded...using a darker stain and using lacquer...they are turning out great, but we are not finished yet...thanks for asking....I will post pics when we get a little further...