I still can't decide if I should paint or gel stain my bath cabinets. (Posting here because bathroom forums get less traffic) I think I want to gel stain, but there are a few questions I have. Just about everyone who posts their beautiful gel stained cabinets used GF java. I don't want to go quite that dark, I was thinking of brown mahogany. But I have noticed that the java seems to work best to get an even color. The gel stains seem to look uneven, unless the 3 coats of java are used. To me, beautiful though it is, it looks more painted than stained. I do want some of the wood grain to show (after all, the cabinet is wood). Without stripping the cabinet first, is it possible to get an even color if I use a lighter gel stain? I've seen very few examples of colors other than java, and of those, the color tends to look a bit uneven.