Carpentry and Woodworking - Refinishing cabinets

Hi, my name is Liz and I would like to refinish my kitchen cabinets to a darker color. I have no idea where to start. Can you help me?

Hey, Liz. Welcome to the forums! So we can start on a level playing field, why not take a few pictures of your cabinets and post them on a site such as photobucket.com and copy/paste the IMG code to your reply post. Our seeing what you see will help a lot.
Are they stained or painted presently?
We'll be here when you get the pix posted.

Larry

Some basics would be first that the cabinets will need to be well cleaned.A kitchen environment can put grease and finger oils on surfaces like cabinets.clean them with mineral spirits also known as paint thinner.This will remove things like grease etc without damaging the surface.Let dry before applying any finish.The surfaces must be very clean so if you feel there is still dirt after this clean with a strong detergent based cleaner like Tri-sodium phosphate then rinse very well to remove residues.

If the cabinets have a stained finish they will likely also have a polyurethane coating.the only practical way to darken this is by using tinted polyurethane.There are a number of brands but all would work.Note that when picking out one of these that the samples are applied to unstained wood and in your application the color will come out darker based on the existing color.

Before you apply these products you should lightly scuff sand the surfaces to bring down any gloss and help adhesion.Be sure to remove any residue from the sanding with a wet rag or tack cloth which is a sticky cloth specifically for this type of use.

If the cabinets are painted you would have to remove the paint to stain them or use tinted poly.To repaint the same techniques are used before using an enamel,waterbourne or oil based.Painting over poly as well though use of an oil based primer might assist with adhesion to a gloss surface.

Ya, if you can let us know exactly what you have, and what you want the finished product to look like - we can figure out how to help you :) pics would help a lot, a better description is needed.

Hey, for simplicity, you just have to research what type or color do you want it to have. There are many sources in the net that is just about it. Importantly take it as a challenge and enjoy what you are doing.