Furniture, Wood and Cabinetry Finishing - Refinishing cabinets vs. buying new

Hello,
I have purchased a house built in 1983, and the kitchen cabinets are original. They are a very dark brown, popular at that time, and look to be of a pretty good quality. I am considering Refacing cabinets vs. buying new. Anybody have a very rough cost analysis? How does the refinishing process work? I understand buying new doors and pulls, how is the surrounding wood handled? Is it stripped and finished, or is an enamel finsih glued on? It is a fairly large kitchen with a large number of cabinets.
Thanks in advance.
Mike

First, there's a difference between refacing and refinishing.

Refacing involves gluing new veneers on the existing cabinets and people often replace doors and drawer fronts when they reface. Prices vary so you'll have to talk to some local refacing companies.

Refinishing is a whole 'nuther game. It involves using some type of stripper (usually a chemical solvent) to remove the old finish and possibly a bleach to lighten the dark stain and even the color out after stripping. It's a messy, tedious and time consuming job. New doors and drawer fronts on refinished cabinet carcasses can be tricky. If you don't finish the doors and drawer fronts correctly, they don't match the refinished carcasses.

After review and a lot of reading on this message board, I am leaning towards replacing with new.