I tackled this project when my husband was out of town. I stripped the very dark coating completely off the cabinets, sanded lightly, vacuumed off the dust particles, applied one coat of KILZ, then applied a semi-gloss white latex paint. I added a conditioner to the paint prior to applying to the cabinets to make a smoother application. Walla! from very dark to white in a matter of about 40 hours. The results were dramatic and well worth the effort. When my husband returned he thought he was in the wrong house!