Refinishing Kitchen Cabinet Doors

I am trying to understand how I can re-finish my 1970's arched cabinet doors, and drawer fronts that are below and around the sink area. The top cabinet doors were not too great an issue. There were fewer marks, and all I did was degrease, clean, lightly sand what appeared to be a walnut finish, re-stained and sprayed a clear coat. For the most part this worked out well with these top cabinet doors. However, the lower cabinets around the sink area are in an entirely different condition.
First - the cabinet stain appears to have been sprayed on. In such a way that the finish on these lower doors seems to "chip" rather than wear down. I see clear wood, where if they were stained first and then clear coated, I'd expect to see wear but still a stained wood, not a chipping or flaking of the finish. I can not replace the doors - as there would be no way to match wood and stain to the existing upper and lower cabinets. Not to mention the expense. So - I am trying the same method that I used on the upper doors. I clean, degrease, sand lightly, re-stain, wipe let the stain dry, and then spray my satin clear coat. But- when I re-stain these lower sink doors that have chipped and flaked -the stain will not take. Likely because the wood has been sealed already.

Is there a way I can re-spray these lower doors with a stain (a no wipe stain) and then clear coat - or, maybe spray a polyshade type clear coat that already has a stain to the clear coat. Stripping the doors with all the routed bead and cove and arch style - and then tryig to match stains - I think would be too much. Any ideas?

 

Hard to picture what you are dealing with. You may have to treat your chips and flakes separately (first) in order to better hide them with whatever you spray on next.

Polyshades works best when you can spray it, but you have to resist the urge to lay a heavy coat on. Several very light coats is best (at least 2 or 3) until you are satisfied with the depth of the color. Be sure you allow sufficient dry time between coats... and not just dry to the touch. This will generally be a little longer than what the can suggests. 24 hrs allows good drying... don't rush it. Once its dry, lightly sand and wipe with a tack cloth between each coat. It gets slightly darker with each light coat. Too many coats and you start to obscure the woodgrain.

 

Welcome to the forums!
Pics would be nice - How to insert pictures. and might alter our advice.
Stain only works well on raw/bare wood. Tinted polys work well over sealed wood but as noted can be tricky to apply. Once finished it's best to apply an untinted coat of poly over it to protect the color coat.