Kitchen in last house had knotty-pine cabs & panelling that some moron had stained with dark walnut, made the dining area look like a dungeon...after figuring out that the stain would never go away, we decided to paint the cabinets a light yellow, made a big difference...one trick is take the doors off & do them outside or in a basement/garage to minimize the mess in your kitchen, you still have to do the cabs in place but so much easier that way...you will have to scuff sand any glossy surface & clean ALL surfaces so the paint will stick...for primer, I recommend Kilz brand, esp. if you're going from a dark to lighter color...warning, kilz smells like hell but it can often cover in one coat...then you can use any quality kitchen/bath paint tinted to the color of your choice...
Taking the doors off may sound like more work, but it's also a great chance to get new hinges & handles...since you want a fresh look, go for the whole shmeer...

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