Try gel stain in a finish to match the cabinet stain. You will need to lightly sand first. Check when you buy the gel stain, but you probably won't need a primer unless the gel stain won't stay on.

Either that or go get some oak veneer. I've got most of a sheet of it here; if you're in Maine you can come and get it.

Thanks, cabinfo, but I'm in Nevada. It would be quite a drive!

I'll look into the gel stain, steff. I'm thinking of a dark cherry colour. I have granite counters, and am going to be getting stainless appliances later this year. The cabinets are fine, but the colour looks a bit dated, so I figure going darker will be a relatively inexpensive update. I don't have the money to replace them, anyhow.

Will going darker make the grain a little less prominent? When we built the house oak was still the most popular cabinet choice. Maple and cherry were just starting to become popular, and were a huge upgrade at the time.

If you can find the gel-stain kitchens here, all light to dark oak, you will be very inspired! CelticMoon's job comes to mind and I know there are others. It looks really good. The grain is less visible, but it's still there and is a great look.

mapletex, take a look at this kitchen, I think it looks really nice......maybe it will be inspiration!

Here is a link that might be useful: cabinets stained with darker gel stain

hi maple...

Khills kitchen is a really good example...Check out waltbsc's kitchen in this thread...

KA:)

Here is a link that might be useful: gel stain thread

Yep, just do all the cabinets in gel stain and it will be a lot easier. You don't have to use stripper, just clean and lightly sand.

Either way going darker is the ticket for success. If you lighten you have to strip old finish then bleach the wood and you never really get all the old stain off so you have an uneven result.

Thanks for the info, everyone. I'm not planning on going too dark, so I know the grain will still show, but I'm considering a mahogany gel stain. I think it will look nice when it's done.

You can also buy veneer online and apply to the ends. This was my backup plan when we painted our cabinets. But luckily I found a clear primer spray for plastic, Valspar's version of Krylon (sorry about that hole in the ozone over my house) that I used on the ends. It made it so easy to paint over.

I guess you could buy the veneer and stain it. Lots of sources online.

Celticmoon also shared her "step-by-step" instructions. Here's a thread where someone lists them.

Here is a link that might be useful: Celticmoon - Gel Stain Instructions