I take it you have face frame cabinets from what you describe. I've been planning on doing something similar to a cabinet with double doors and a piece of the frame in between. Here's what I'm planning to do. The center strip in mine is screwed in with 4 pocket screws, 2 at the top and 2 at the bottom. Use a flash light and try and see what type of head it has before you get started. Get a peice of 3/4" square stock cut it a couple inches less than the height of the opening. Glue and screw it to the side of that center peice so that it's flush with the front. Predrill is a must, countersink is optional but nice. Leave a gap at the top and bottom. Next close the door on the side where you attached the 3/4" piece. Then predrill and screw but don't glue it in. You just want to get the holes in, then remove the screws to the door. Now you want to remove that center piece from the cabinet box. First you want to take a utility knife and score the finish on the top and bottom to keep it from chipping. Maybe the back too. Then unscrew it. If it doesn't come right out, use a thin bladed saw to cut the top and bottom. It might be glued. Might be a good idea here to sand the top and bottom to give you some extra clearance and seal the fresh wood on the top and bottom. Then attach that center piece to the door lining it up with the holes you made previously. Now that cabinet pretty much looks like it did before except when you open the door the center piece comes with it and you have full access. For the rest, read these instructions for making pull out shelves for your cabinets.

Carolyn, We bought our house about 7 years ago. The kitchen was just awful when we bought it... filthy, icky, tile floor all cracked in pieces, huge non-functional island in a very small space, AND 1980's oak cabinets. We did a cosmetic renovation which lasted us until January of this year when we ripped it all out and did a complete, down to the studs renovation. for the cosmetic renovation back in 2001 we put in an oak floor, put in new countertops and a new backsplash (which was sea glass... loved it for many years and then grew sort of tired of it), painted the cabinets Benjamin Moore mayonnaise (just the outsides, you can see the insides are still oak), put on new knobs and bought new appliances (nothing fancy or high end but worlds better than what came with the house, particularly the refrigerator which had a decomposing dead bird plastered to the back of it, and lords knows what all in the crevices in the insides. In the renovation we just completed we got all of the floors on the same level and opened up the kitchen which makes it feel twice as big despite the fact that it is in the same footprint (with the exception of the china hutch cabinetry which extends beyond where our old kitchen ended). Here are some pictures of what the kitchen looked like before the cosemetic renovation: notice the cracked floor tiles: the step down into the family room drove me crazy... there wasn't really enough room for an island or decent sized kitchen table in the kitchen and there was tons of space in the family room but it was very awkward figuring out where to put the table Here is after the cosmetic renovation (actually, I took the pictures right before the whole thing got ripped out so that I could sell whatever I could on Craigslist): And after the complete renovation... notice the floors all on one level!!! yahoo!! and notice it is the same amount of space but opening it up makes it seem like much more space (also we eliminated the window on the range wall which helped immensely):

Pallman is fine. There are two things I would change: Humidity - it is at the lower end of acceptable. Even though 35% is allowed, it is still going to show some problems with splitting and checking. Please get it up to 45% - 50%. That will really, really, really help the wood look health and beautiful. This should be done SLOWLY. About 5% increase every 7 days or so. Ditch the Minwax. It is low-end DIY stuff. If Pallmant makes stains, then get them to work with Pallman stains. Get them to redo the colour patches for you to decide on your colour...again going with a coat of finish over the stain patch so that you can see the depth of colour. That's it. They are stepping up and fixing a finish that was really rough. They buffed three times (I'm assuming the buffing was between every coat) and yet they still came up with a rough finish. So they are doing it over. Very nice. You have an stand-up group of guys there. If they won't switch out the Minwax - it probably isn't a huge deal. Many refinishers like to work with Minwax because the stains have remained the same for DECADES. I'm not a fan, but oil based stains work with oil based finishes all the time. The HUMIDITY is going to be your challenge as a homeowner. If you can bump it up to 45%, you will have a much happier floor. Much, much happier floor.

I googled 409 degreaser and you should, too. It’s toxic! The only product I can think of that you could try, is white vinegar. I have had good luck with liquid Bartender’s Friend on white paint, but it’s hard to recommend a product should it fail and make matters worse for you. My friend swears by Carbona products for all stains and messes: https://carbona.com/products/