Can I paint a (real fire) fireplace surround with normal paint or should I use special paint?

[verystressedmum]

I have a wooden fireplace surround which I'd like to paint white. I thought this would be less faff than replacing it as I like the look of it just not the colour (pine).
I would sand it, then prime it but not sure which primer to use just an ordinary wood primer?
Then paint it but is normal paint like emulsion ok? Or should it be a heat resistant paint as its a real fire which we use?
Thank you for any tips!

[wowfudge]

In the past I painted a wooden gas fire surround (cast iron and tile fire insert) and I under coated and used satinwood paint. It looked a million times better than the original dark, stained finish and lasted well.

[Fluffycloudland77]

Ours is farrow and ball eggshell.

[PigletJohn]

if it's a wooden fire surround, then it had better not get very hot or it could burn. I would not use white as it might discolour.

Water-based paint does not (AFAIK) blister from heat like oil gloss does. You will have to sand all the old varnish off as it is a poor surface for paint. For indoor woodwork you can use water-based white acrylic primer undercoat (not durable outdoors) which dries quickly and is soft to lightly sand smooth.

[verystressedmum]

Thank you so much for the advice. I did want it white and I did wonder if it would go black from the fire. I don't light it that often as I hate cleaning it out so maybe it will be ok