Painting over dark wood.

[Fyzz]

My house is a barn conversion and was built in the 80s. all the windows, doors and woodwork are varnished wood. Some of the rooms are quite dark and I think white woodwork would lighten them up as well as looking more modern.
The question is can you just paint over it all? It would be a huge job which I can't physically do myself.
Just wondered if anyone else had done it before I ask my decorator.

[JoJoSM2]

They’d just need sanding down first and then painting.

I think the beams could look v nice sanded down to natural wood as they wouldn’t be dark but still quite a visible feature against pale walls. You could just get them sealed if needed.

[FuglyHouse]

Depending on how thick and/or dark the varnish is, you may need to strip the wood work before painting as otherwise you'll need multiple layers to completely cover the varnish. Multiple layers aren't a problem on skirting boards, but may cause issues for opening windows and doors.

We have thick "mahogany" varnish everywhere so I'm stripping back the door frames before repainting so that the doors don't stick (and replacing the architraves and skirting because there's only so much varnish stripping I can cope with ).

[Fyzz]

FuglyHouse It's dark. Yes it has crossed my mind to just get doors and skirtings replaced. Windows are relatively new and PVC.

[GolightlyMrsGolightly]

we got the v dark mahagony varnish painted over. took the decorator a while but looked a million times better. he didnt strip it back or anything and it was fine when we moved 12 years later.