amberm145, that would be one of my most thrilling points! Traditional, flesh eating strippers don't do anything with stain. However.... [insert drum roll] If you put a coat of Citristrip on your stripped wood, it will such the stain right out of the grain. See my pictures above. And we're talking a very dark, 1920s door with tons of paint and clear coats on it. and I have not sanded a speck on the 15 doors I've worked on, nor the kitchen cabinets I've done, other than to brush off the dried Citristrip as I mentioned above. The golden oak cabs I did got very light natural wood, too. I was able to ceruse them with a vinegar (I choose ume plum vinegar, just because I had it) and then a very thinned wash of Varathane 'Sunbleached'. I wanted them to stay light. I love that I don't have to sand.

Best way is to contact the company that made the cabinets and ask for the recipe. Second best way is to go to a branded paint store(Sherwin Williams, etc) with a sample and hope a person with stain matching experience is there. Last resort is to start experimenting---I'll bet there are at least three stain colors in the recipe---plus the tint added if the finish is oil based or shellac.

Nancy... so right! I hate it when they do that and DH is also be blame! First he says... do what you want. then when final sign off is here... ummm, "you think that will look good?" Grrrr! I'm usually a Pacifist... but now I'm close to "passing a fist" right though his face! Just a little joke I saw on Facebook. LOL. Trying not to let this project get to me. drewem, your kitchen sounds like it will be a winner. If I had an island, I'd probably do something similar.

What do you mean "pull pink" - as others have said if cabs lean pink then you would actually want a certain subtle amount of red i.e. "pinkness" in your white. If your white leans into the yellow-greens then that contrast will bring out the "pinkness" in the cabinets (green and red are opposite on the color wheel) .... which is what you are wanting to avoid. BTW, just an observation - nothing wrong with pink or colors leaning pink, these can esp. look harmonious with wood tones. Sometimes people seem to be reacting more against the name of the color (pink) and its associations than what the color itself actually looks like. Bring a door to a professional paint shop and choose some samples to bring home - someone there can help you pin down some good options.