Refinishing kitchen cabinets

Hello, I am interested in refinishing our kitchen cabinets (picture of one set of cabinets attached) - either staining them a darker color, or painting them white. What can be done here that:

1. Does not involve sanding
2. Preferably does not involving using chemicals to strip the current stain

Thank you!

 

I'm afraid the only option within those parameters is replacement.

To stain the cabinets darker you'd need to strip off all of the existing finish first - stain needs bare wood. You can alter the color a little be applying a tinted poly like MinWax's PolyShades over the existing finish but you'd still need to sand lightly first or wipe the wood down with a liquid deglosser - I usually do both.

Painting would also require a light sanding and/or using deglosser. You'd then apply 1 coat of a solvent based primer followed by 2 coats of your choice of enamel [latex, oil base or waterborne] sanding lightly between coats.