Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I read all the reviews, seriously - all of them. Watched youtube, read the blogs. Looked at my dismal honey-oak 1997 cabinets & ordered excitedly, unscrewed the doors and labeled them with my anal kitchen chart, laid out in my garage. Then I waited. It arrived quick, 4 days after ordering, then I froze up. Scared, unsure, wide eyed, kicking myself for being an overeager sheep. Re-read all the reviews, re-watched the videos, tried to pump myself up. Even called a contractor for a quote to do it. ($350? uhhhh...) Then one day, after 3 weeks of looking at our exposed dishes and sippy cups (cabinet doors were still off) I started washing the frames with Dawn and water & again with just water. When my husband came home, he "sanded" them for me, if thats what you want to call it, he more of less ran a sandpaper block over them once each and was done with the whole kitchen in 4 minutes. I rinsed with water again, to remove any sawdust. Starting with the "fake" wood sides, I tried to follow the man's sock and wipe away method. It looked like a toddler smeared dookie on it. So I used a sponge brush and went over it very very lightly, and evenly. Looked awesome. I ended up buying the Economy sized bag of sponge brushes from Wal-Mart ($1.00 for like 12) and used those. Easier to get into the cracks, easier & less messy to apply, more even looking outcome. Plus, no wiping away, so that's one less step. Yipee! I thought it would take 3 coats like the other reviews suggested, to get the completely covered espresso look, but I guess since I am using a sponge brush and not wiping off, 2 coats were the magic trick for me. I do 1 coat 1 day, wait 24 hours or more, do a second coat, then flip over and repeat. Waiting for the doors to dry have been the hardest part. I've enjoyed my quiet mornings in the garage with the radio so much, I will miss being able to do this when they are all complete! I will have enough to do a bathroom, so I guess I will do that next. I posted my progress on Facebook, and all the compliments and words of encouragement from friends & family has done wonders for my confidence and ego. I am the gel-stain-mistress. Hear me roar. I even grew a pair and tried a door without scruffing up first with sandpaper. Guess what? It turned out looking just like the other sanded ones. DOH! Oh well, that only took 4 minutes, remember? By the way, coat 1 using my method will turn a honey oak cabinet into a rustic-gun slinging-saloon-bar look, if you know what I mean. Absolutely gorgeous, if you want to leave it that way. I chose the second coat for more darkness and coverage, since it went better with my backsplash (which is a whole 'nother review and much less cheerful) So that's my review on Java Gel Stain by GF. Hope you feel confident to try it, I am sure glad I did, my kitchen upgrade looks like I spent well over $1,000.