I thought the UV was the main thing that would cause degradation of the surface (don't have a problem with condensation). Andersen claims its low-e glass filters out UV: "Ordinary dual-pane glass lets 62% of UV light pass through. Our High-Performance Low-E glass cuts that down to 17% with virtually no effect on the clarity and color of the light." All but the one over the kitchen sink are double hung. I've already finished the casement window over the sink in the wipeon poly (wasn't much to do, skinny frames so I did it when I was doing jambs and stool). "Sikkens does not recommend the use of any exterior products for interior use." They apparently make an interior Cetol but I'm wondering if it's any better than the poly I already have? It's probably $25/quart like the exterior stuff, so just wanted recommendations before I went and bought it. I put 1 coat of the D&W on the garage window (same type as interior, bought it for looks since Andersen 200 series doesn't have the same grills as 400). It didn't go on as nicely as it did on the f/g door - I have brush marks. Brochure doesn't say to sand b/t coats but I think I'm going to - 320 grit? I plan on 3 coats. Even though they say don't use clear alone on high UV exposure areas, I think I can get away with it on this western window since the *interior* of the garage doesn't get much sun, so it would only be the areas on each sash where they meet, and maybe the bottom edge of the bottom sash. The interior faces don't actually get direct sun. It actually looked better than the one interior sash in the southern bay, and that's only the very bottom of the bottom sash that's looking dry anyway. I did the slider with poly last year and it looks fine (eastern), the only problem with condensation is there, and it's between the wood and the glass where I can't even get to, you can see black on the edge looking in from outside, but nothing from inside. Andersen didn't seal the wood before putting the glass in. The garage just has a screen in the upper window, so plenty of air (also full soffits) but it smells pretty bad. "You won't win the battle against the sunshine without maintenance." So what do you recommend for finish on interior sashes, and how to maintain? Thanks

pseudochef, It is hard to get a good representation of what the insides look like with the lighting in my kitchen but here is what I was able to get with my iphone of the only cabinet left empty: The inside is their standard maple finished plywood and the shelves and cabinet box are banded in whatever wood you get for the doors The right side of the cabinet in the second picture is one of Barker's finished end pieces. They have them in the slab style that we bought as well as a style that looks like a cabinet door. On the left side of that cabinet is one of their filler strips and under it is their light valance. If you are going to use their valance make sure you order too much, I ordered just enough and now have to wait for another piece to finish my last cabinet like grlwprls said the drawers boxes are top notch. The dove tail is tight and sanded smooth and the blum glides are awesome. So easy to put in and I can't stop playing with the soft close. According to their site they just recently upgraded the drawer glides to blum's top of the line. We got the standard baltic plywood drawer boxes. If you get the clear coat, like we did, they will come coated like the rest of the cabinet. Definitely don't hesitate to email Chad, he is great, I must have sent him 30 emails over the last two months and he never seem to get annoyed. KBSpider; we were going to do maple as well and that is the sample cabinet we ordered, but decided to go a bit darker. Definitely don't regret the decision. This post was edited by sevngang on Tue, Mar 5, 13 at 20:47

I did some web surfing after you guys mentioned the gel and found this: Minwax® Woodsheen® A wipe-on gel which combines oil stain with a soft lustre top-coat. And just yesterday I'm at Home Depot asking the clerk if there was any one coat product that would give me a finished wood or "faux" finished wood look and he tells me "no". I bet this stuff was right next to the stain and clear coat he got for me. There was also something on the website called: "Minwax® PolyShades® A one-step stain and finish that provides rich wood color and durable polyurethane protection." Now this stuff sounds about like what I would get if I mixed some stain in with the clear coat. We had our maple cabinets finished by a pro and somehow he got the crown molding which was a different wood with different natural color to come out the same color as the cabinets. When I look close, there is no visible grain in the finished molding but the color is an exact match to the cabinet. I would have liked to get this same effect on the shoe molding but don't know how he did it. Working close to the floor like this just kills my back, so I'm looking to finish this job with as few steps as possible.

My walnut floors have already faded, and they have only been in a little over a year. However, most of the kitchen is exposed to light, direct sunlight in the winter months. Our older walnut furniture is a bit lighter than the floor, but I forget how dark it was from the start. I'm pretty clueless about UV inhibitors, but I'd do a UV inhibitor before I would stain it. Oil-based finishes will naturally bring out the amber tones in the wood, making it look more red and orange. Water based finishes don't bring out the oranges and reds, but sometimes leave a bit of a cloudy look behind.