Painting pine furniture- what kind of paint do I need? (Not chalk paint)

[CrocusPocus]

I've got 2 pine chests of drawers - one untreated, one varnished - that I'd like to repaint. I've never attempted anything like this before. My plan is to sand the varnished one, put a coat of primer of both, then paint. I'd like a smooth finish - not the shabby chic chalk paint look. Do I need a specific kind of paint for this? Wood paint? Egg shell? Or just emulsion?

I did mine with satinwood after a light sand and cleaning with sugar soap. It's a nice matt finish. A lot of people swear by Frenchic paint but I think that may be chalky?

I’d buy a washable scrubbable matt. Something like valspar 700.

Make sure you treat the knots. Sand, sugar soap then maybe prime with the Bin Zinser paint, then gloss, satin, eggshell.

I painted my wood fire surround and just gave it a quick sand and prime and then used furniture paint from B&Q. It matt grey and has a lovely finish.

Undercoat/prime/ knot with zinsser 123. Top coat with whatever you like. Lakeland paints are fantastic if a little pricy. Stick to water based. Buy good quality no shed brushes e.g. Harris .

Oh and no need to sand the varnish off. Just key with 120grit all over.

Definitely remember to block the knots. Recently, I've used Craig and Rose, Fired Earth and Laura Ashley eggshell and really rate the C&R. LA also good but was disappointed with FE - took more coats to cover but beautiful colour.

What they said. Plus sand lightly with a high grade sandpaper between coats (not the same as you use to key into the varnish, much gentler). Finish with at least one coat of clear polyurethane (sanding between each layer).

Oh gosh, so much to think about. Thanks for all the replies. I was going to get a sander - do I need to bother? Will sandpaper do just as well? Am starting to wonder whether I have bitten off more than I can chew..!

I've just painted my horrid pine wardrobe with frenchic paint. It's crem de la crem from the lazy range. Three coats with a mini roller, didn't take long and looks great. It had knackered drawers in the bottom. I took them out and bought baskets to replace.

I should also say it is chalk paint but it dries like eggshell with a sheen. Not chalky at all.

That looks amazing! That's exactly the finish I want.

Yes definitely Frenchic paint. It’s awesome.

I have a sander (well, three different ones ) but really only use them for the big jobs. For your first project I'd say use sandpaper and a sanding block or sanding sponges. I wear gloves to avoid sanding my fingers too much by accident.

It is easy to over-sand thin wood on furniture panels first time you use a power sander, which would be annoying

It can be a quick job by hand so long as you keep freshening the sandpaper. By which I mean chuck it in the bin immediately it gets clogged and grab a new piece. Spend more money on a big stack of sandpaper instead of on a tool I say.

Miranda15110

Thanks for the info about chalk paint, I’ve always avoided it because I didn’t want a chalky finish.