I saw Debbie Travis do this once on her original TV series, painting a metal door to match its wood frame. She didn't use a graining tool, just four or five colors of paint and an ordinary brush, with a satin varnish at the end. From what I've seen elsewhere, this is feasible if you're imitating a fine-grained wood, not if you want the effect of, say, oak. The key, she said, is to look closely at some wood you want to match, and identify all the separate colors in it, then apply the paint in those proportions. The colors that there is the least of would be applied with a nearly dry brush.

You won't be able to stain the cabinets a lighter color without sanding them down, and that's A LOT of work. Painting is much easier, but still a time commitment. There are several posts on this board about how to successfully paint cabinets. I agree with the realtor, I think the beadboard doors on your cabs would look great white. That said, has the home even been listed yet? Is the value of the house less than the mortgage? How quickly do you have to sell? All of these questions, and probably a few others, would influence what you should do. Personally, if it has yet to be listed and you have a little leeway timewise, I would give the kitchen a good de-clutter and cleaning, put out some fresh flowers, and see if it moves. Some people might prefer the natural wood, some might want white paint, others might want a colored paint, and others might want to gut the kitchen. I'd let the buyer decide in what direction he/she wants to take the kitchen. If the house hangs on the market a month or two, then take more drastic measures.

I love the chairs with the table. You might look in to General Finishes Gel Stain with their (not shiny) water base acrylic. Many color options and it's a stellar product. I would recommend several coats of the Poly water base since it's a table and probably used often. Many tutorials on You Tube for this product if you want to type in, "general finishes gel stain" in Google then click on the video portion at the top they do demonstrate as well as they do with the sealing product. Good luck....

it's a natural smell. smells like tung oil. lol It's the oil from the seed of a nut on the tung tree. It can be a bit strong at first, but it does dissipate. it's not a horrible smell. after a few coats (let it dry in between) it hardens and forms a natural finish. You could also use the higher priced finishes, but it also has tung oil in it. (Like Waterlox) Just stay away from anything that has Finish after it. (Danish Oil Finish, tung oil Finish, Wood-Finish, etc) Those contain varnish and other chemicals. you could try a water based varnish. (I wouldn't use a poly. poly gets to hard and will crack over time) you could also try something like a tinted mineral oil or bamboo oil. don't know if it will darken as much as you want though. if you don't mind the light color, just use the butcher block or mineral oil