[ProPainter]

No real easy way to restain a darker wood and make it lighter!

Unfortunately there is no easy way to restain the wood lighter. You will need to strip off the original varnish and sand almost all of the darker stain off. This is a pain and very time consuming. However you will eventually be able to achieve the results you are looking for. If you are painting them then I would suggest taking the cabinet doors off, and laying them down on newspaper or a dropcloth somewhere when painting. You will need to use a stain blocking oil primer to block the pigment from coming through then topcoat with a high quality satin - gloss sheen (oil preferred) oil or latex paint. Use a brush and the small whizzie rollers to do this.

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