Mid-century modern look on Walnut cabinets

[Kevin Stafford]

Hello all. I'm making some built-in cabinets out of a combination of walnut ply (cabinet body), solid walnut (edge banding and trim), and walnut veneer (doors and drawer-fronts), and am looking for some advice designing a finishing schedule.

My goals are as follows:

Smooth out color variations between the materials (the ply is a good deal grayer than the solid stuff)
Make it durable (it's for a bar area, so should hold up to alcohol)
Minimize color changes over time due to UV exposure
Emphasize the grain and beauty of the wood
Achieve a warm mid-century look - more of a reddish brown than a dark walnut
Take advantage of my new turbine HVLP in some capacity :)


I bought some GF Enduro Clear Poly to use as a top coat btw.

Can anyone recommend a finishing schedule that would achieve the warm/vintage/mid-century look I'm going for on Walnut?

Thanks!