We painted our cabinets instead of staining.  We prefer a stained look.  Since the grain shows through, it still resembles stained wood.  Close enough considering the money we saved.  Hover your mouse or touch the photos to display / hide comments.

1990's Orangey Oak cabinet color was driving us crazy. The best solution was to call Mike at Capitol City Woodworks to strip and destain the cabinets. But we tried paint first.

We ran some tests on the inside of the doors over the fridge that we never open. We found a food processor inside. Like I said, we never open them. Found that satin enamel looked decent. So we gave it a try on the island.

The paint worked well on the island. We lived with a different color island for a few months and the paint held up.

Spring Break came and it was time to tackle the rest of the kitchen. The cabinets were stained and had some sort of clear coat on top. We sanded up the clear coat so the paint had a rough surface on which to cling. The difference in old and new color is striking.

Removed the doors and painted on a ladder in the garage. At first labeled the hinges. Soon realized we could leave them on the cabinets as the hinges are hidden and easy to paint around. DO label the doors! We put some felt pads on the ladder so the paint would not be scratched when we flipped the dry doors.

We painted the cabinet faces in place. Sanded with the windows open. Dusty sand perhaps toxic? Cleaned up carefully after. One-time exposure to whatever the dust was. Probably not a concern. Wore a mask while working.

Finished view. Kimberly said to me, "Slow down and be very careful. We'll be looking at this a long time." Good thought to repeat as you get anxious to see the result.

We found that the satin enamel worked better in a thick first coat. Not enough to drip, but pretty thick. Thin coats left brush marks. Where I sanded through the clear coat (which was hard to tell while sanding) more paint soaked in. So thick helped a lot there, too.

What do you do with a built-in desk that is too low and doesn't have room for a chair? Beverage counter!

Paint is Behr Premium Plus Ultra stain blocking paint and primer in one satin enamel - Espresso Bean.  We chose the color by laying color swatches on our wood floor and picked the best match.
Sanded using 3M fine sanding foam squares.  Andrew came home with some after helping a friend's dad (a 3M rep) with some project.  Not sure where you buy them but they fit the power sander.  Tough to get loaded, but boy do they conform with the curves and crevices nicely if you put a little pressure on the sander!  Saved us hours!
Advice I got from an excellent house painter: buy the most expensive paint brushes in the store.  Makes a huge difference.
Now that we are done, my advice:  Paint is a good alternative to a proper staining and can be a manageable do it yourself project.  Stain would be better.  Do it yourself will cost you a Spring Break.  If you can afford a vacation and the cost of re-staining then call Mike Griffin at Capitol City Wood Works.  Coming home relaxed to find the job done would have been better!
Still, being a Realtor I like to do a variety of home improvement jobs once.  It teaches me what to tell clients about tacking it themselves versus hiring it done right.
Below is a photo of a kitchen Mike did the right way.