The first house we bought had cabinets with a very dark walnut stain. They was just U-G-L-Y, and looking into one was like looking into a black hole. After six months of feeling like I was cooking in a cave, because the floor was a busy black, gold, and avocado print vinyl, and the walls were a puce green, I decided I needed a change.
I thought I might strip the wood and put a lighter stain on it, but even after taking all the stain off the top, the color was SO deep in the grain, all I could do was paint them. Our across the street neighbor was appalled that I'd paint those 'lovely wood cabinets', until I showed them one of the doors with the stain removed, but with the blotchy aftermath. He concurred that paint would be best. ;o) I did them in an arctic white that turned out great, and even did the walls in the same white. It was a BIG job, though, cause I had to paint the cabinets inside and out. We also did the floor in the peel and stick vinyl squares in a similar white, and the room looked half again as big as it had before!
This time, I only have to paint the doors and the face frames, cause SirKit is building all new cabinet boxes. and since he's using a plywood that's maple on one side and birch on the other, I'm just going to put a clear stain on the inside, which will be the maple, and on the outside, it will be painted anyway, if it's an end cabinet.
I wasn’t planning on stripping the insides...just the doors and the facing.
Didn’t think you could strip stain...