Kitchen cabinet remodeling questions...please help a clueless woman!?

My kitchen cabinets are white. I want them to be a more natural wood color (light brown or something)--how can I achieve this without completely replacing cabinets? Also I want to redo countertops and replace sink would it matter if I did this before or after the cabinets? ***Please talk to me like you're writing one of those "for dummies" books as I really know very little about remodeling.*** thank so much for your help!

Public Comments

1. okay, first do your cabinits. If they are wood, and make sure its wood, and not compressed card board. You can stain them a natural stain. I think you have to sand it first put ask someone at the store. If you do the countertops first, stain might fall on your new things and stain when dried is hard to take off without ruining your countertops, Also when you cut the hole for the sink keep the peice that u cut and use it for cooking, when you put a pot or pan on the countertop it might mess up, but u can put it on this or use it as a cutting board
2. As the first person said, make sure your cabinets are real wood. Most cabinet makers today will use a compressed wood product, if the owner plans to paint them. Real wood is used if the home owner plans to stain the cabinets. This means, that some cabinets are not suited to go from paint to stain. Let's assume your cabinets are real wood and painted white. Visit the hardware store and ask for a chemical product that will remove paint. I imagine this job will be messy, and may require sanding the cabinets to remove the remaining white hue left by the paint. Once the paint is removed, you'll need to stain and/or urethane the cabinets. (urethane is like a clear nail polish that will help protect the wood). Given the messy potential, don't replace your counter tops until your cabinets are finished. The local hardware store or paint shop will be a great source for information. They can advise you on the specific products to use, and can provide a better estimate as to how much effort may be involved. It might be useful to bring one of your cabinet doors to the hardware store. They may be able to determine if it is real wood, or compressed wood. Also, the more groves in your wood work, the more effort this project will take.