advice wanted please on painting furniture

[friendly]

I have just bought dd an old desk. I want to paint it for her and give it a facelift. Could anyone give me advice on doing this? It is oak. Do I need to prime it once I've sanded it and what type of paint should I use and then do I need to varnish it?

Please excuse typing/ english. Car parked on hill and thinks it's run out of petrol. I'm putting off dealing with it..

I have just painted an old oak wardrobe to look like a punch and judy stand, I sanded it back, then primed it with 2 coats of a suitable wood primer, then used any emulsion paint suitable for painting on wood for the bigger areas then used acrylic paints for the detail, then gave it a couple of coats of varnish.

Thanks loopyredangel. I have now pretty much finished dd's desk. I did have trouble with the varnish though. Although it said clear it has left a brownish tinge in places. I wish I'd varnished in daylight instead of 10.30pm!

I used a darker varnish on purpose to give the wardrobe an old effect, looks pretty cool.