Preparation

• Remove the cabinet doors and other parts of the cabinet that will come off. Remove all knobs, hinges and other hardware and set them aside. Set the removed doors on saw horses in a work area, with newspaper under them. Put newspaper around the floor and countertops under the cabinets. Use painter's tape to tape off walls and other areas adjacent to the cabinets. Crack a window wherever you'll be applying stain and varnish to dispel fumes.
  
  

Sanding

• Whether you're completely stripping the cabinets to bare wood to restain or just adding a layer of gloss, you'll need to sand every surface of the wood. For full-stripping projects, use 60-grit sandpaper, rubbing it vigorously by hand until you get to bare wood, then re-sand with 100-grit paper to smooth it out. For re-glossing projects, use 120-grit sandpaper and just lightly buff the surface of the existing gloss. Make sure to clean up all the sanding dust before proceeding.
  
  

Staining

• Most stains are applied by brushing or sponging the thin liquid stain onto the wood, letting it sit for a minute or more, then wiping off the excess liquid with paper towels. It won't work if there's any varnish or other gloss left on the wood. The longer the stain sits on the bare wood, the more it will penetrate and the darker the color will be. Start with short wait-times--a minute at most--because if it's too light you can re-apply more stain, but it's too dark, you're stuck with it. Wear rubber gloves when working with stain.
  
  

Glossing

• Cabinets can be glossed with a range of products, from soft, light varnishes to modern polyurethane glosses that dry into hard, shiny shells. It's up to you. Don't shake the gloss before using it (that will cause bubbles to form), but gently stir it. Apply it in slow, carefully strokes, from the tops of the cabinets downward, brushing out any bubbles or drips. Before applying a second coat, gently buff the first coat with 120-grit sandpaper until it turns slightly cloudy. This may seem counter-intuitive, but it's necessary to get the second coat to stick. The cloudiness will clear with the second coat.