CLC, I did mine about a year ago with instructions I found on DIY (I think). First I took off the doors and the hardware and washed everything down with TPC (I think that's the right name). You can find it in the paint dept. in a little carton like milk comes in. You mix it up in warm water. It's supposed to clean off all dirt, grease, etc. It did a great job! Next I sanded all surfaces with a fine sandpaper then cleaned with a tack cloth. Then I painted one coat, sanded and tack clothed (?) when it was dry, and painted a second coat.

I used interior enamel in a gloss finish. So far they still look pretty good, but I suspect I should have used some kind of oil-based paint since I'm pretty sure the original finish was oil-based. And I should have used high gloss because I wanted much more shine than I got.

We didn't take the cabinets out. I painted the doors and drawers out in the garage, but painted the bases where they were.

It was a really big job! I took 5 days off work and it ended up taking all that time and several more weekends to get it all done. And most of the doors don't want to close all the way after having the hardware removed and reinstalled. But they sure look better than the old, tired, out of date pickled oak finish!

Donna