Hi,

I'm planning to renovate my kitchen this Fall, and in an effort to save
money, I want to paint the existing cabinet frames, and purchase and
paint new cabinet doors. The existing cabinets are custom-built Oak,
with a honey-stain and satin(?) clear finish, which I assume is
polyurethane.

To prep the frames for painting, I see several options: (1) strip off
the clear finish chemically, (2) sand the clear coat finish, (3) take
my chances and try to prime directly to the finish, or (4) etch the
finish. Options 1 and 2 will make a big mess, but I don't really trust
3, and don't know much about 4. Anyone have experience "etching" a
finish to make it primer-ready? What products would you recommend?

To get a good paint job, I plan to prime with BIN (2 coats), paint with
water-based flat paint (2 coats), then finish with Minwax Polycrylic
water-based semi-gloss clear finish (1 coat). I've experimented with
this combination and it looks nice, and seems to be much more durable
than paint alone. If anyone has comments or suggestions about this
plan, let me know.

Finally, can anyone recommend a good source for the new doors? I know
there are many out there, just looking for a recommendation.

Thanks,
EC