That's kind of what I'm thinking. I don't expect to get a 100% perfect finish using brushes, I just don't want to walk into the kitchen and get hit in the eyes with super obvious brush marks all over my cabinets. :) A few friends of ours hand-painted their cabinets with some kind of crappy paint and put on thick, heavy coats and that's kind of the end result they got (they offered to help us paint ours...I politely declined, hehe). Thanks for the response!

Proper prep and technique will do the job. I just hand painted our new kitchen cabinet doors with Satin Impervo water borne and they looks great. Do they look like they were sprayed? NO , but they look good.
Of course, I have been doing this a long time.

Would you say Satin Impervo Waterborne is superior to Advance then? Or just your preference? As far as prepping goes, so far we're planning on cleaning thoroughly with a no-rinse cleaner and sanding before applying one coat of a good primer (not sure exactly which primer yet either, of course). Does that sound right? Would you recommend we use an actual chemical deglosser as well or just stick to sanding/priming?

I used the Satin Impervo because I had some and I like the finish . Forget the chemical deglosser and stick with cleaning and sanding. Just make sure you get all the sanding dust cleaned as well. I would use BM's Fresh Start as a primer, second choice would be Zinsser's 123

I don't know if this will help, but I just painted a stack of cubbies made from furniture grade maple plywood with maple veneer on the cut sides (hubby built them).
I used the Advance and a small skinny roller (not sure of the knapp size) but the kind with the closed end to get into corners and a light sanding (330 grit recommended for between paint coats) between coats. I let the first coat dry 24 hours before applying the second. I could not be happier with the results.
Oh, I should have stated that the primmer we used was an oil based primer used to seal bare woods.
Does it look sprayed on? Almost. The paint was very easy to work with and the coverage was good. I did two coats and am very happy with the results.

Oh awesome, thanks for sharing that! I'm feeling more and more reassured that I'll be fine using Advance and not buying a sprayer. :) My method will be pretty similar to yours, though I'll probably use a brush as well.

Kenzie you have the perfect kitchen for hand-painting kitchen cabinets. You are going to be amazed at the improvement if you follow Christopher's directions. Just don't skip any steps and take your time :).

You will see a little grain since your cabinets are oak, but that helps eliminate the look of brush marks also. I am one of those people who don't mind seeing the grain of oak - at least they look like real wood.

I have one question for Christoper: How does the BM Impervo and Advance compare to SW Pro-Classic as far as ease of applying?? My reason for asking is that I have used the Pro-Classic on a vanity and was very impressed with the quality of the finished product - just would like to know for future projects.

For me the pro classic was harder to work with, now this has bees 5 or 6 years ago when I used it. The finish was pretty much the same as Impervo.If you were happy with the way the pro classic went on, then by all means stick with it.

With the oak grain, the wood grain will always be very visible. You should look at painted oak cabinets to make sure that you are ok with that. Alternatively, if you are not set on white cabinets, I would look into General Finishes gel stain.

Here is a link that might be useful: gel stained oak cabinets

Ive used and suggest kilz primer just one coat and dont go back over the primer when wet if you have the urge to, just let it dry unless its really bad, like a run etc. Wear nitrile gloves if you can. Buy wooster or purdy brand brushes and thinner using the benjamin moore satin impervo oil base paint. Paint door backs first lying flat to allow for flow of paint let dry 36 hours flip over and paint fronts and 36 hours and you will not believe how good they look, I have used this method and products 27 years and oul base rocks. Have fun.

How did the cabinets turn out? @KenzieThada

I've used SW ProClassic and BM Impervo. SW ProClassic was by far easier to apply and did not show brush marks as much but does not stand up as well to scrubbing. BM Impervo shows more brush marks and takes more technique to apply but stands up way better through time.

I used Cabinet Coat, not as primer, as the finish coat. (Primed with Zinsser 123) The Cabinet Coat, along with a good Purdy brush, gave a smooth finish with no brush marks. As others have said, its all in the prep work.

I brushed Satin Impervo oil based paint 3 years ago on our handrails of our stairs to take them from a poly wood stain to a color (Dragon's Breath -dark gray) . I was totally amazed at how smooth the final result was! It looks as if it were sprayed. Not a single brush stroke to be seen. Yes, it took 24 hours to dry but in that time it leveled out completely. I had never paid $70+ for a gallon of paint but I am totally sold. And cured very hard. Durable! It still looks like I just painted it.

Do you know how BM Advanced Satin compares to Advanced Semi-gloss for kitchen cabinets?

Do you have to use a primer on oak kitchen cabinets with Impervo? From the reviews I've seen, it seems that you don't.