I want to paint a dresser, but which paint to use?

[Jellycatshopkeeper]

It's big and dark, varnished oak, bit overbearing in our little house so I thought I'd go for a painted shabby shit chic effect.

It needs to be matt, but hard wearing I suppose.

Any ideas?

Best bet might be eggshell, which is hard wearing and matt. But its oil based and takes ages to dry. An easier option might be ordinary emulsion with a satin varnish to protect it. You get more colour choices that way too. I've done a few pieces this way.

thanks

Key back with medium sandpaper.
Wipe off crud. Leave to dry for a bit.
Sand back with a finer sandpaper.
Wipe off pretty thoroughly. Leave till dry.
Water down some pale (White/cream..) emulsion, apply with a brush (1.5" approx) with the grain of the wood. Try not to overlap the strokes too much.
For a shabby chic look it works well to have bits of the piece more worn than the overall iyswim. To do this use a normal house hold candle and rub it over the areas that would normally have more wear and tare - corners etc... Lightly brush off excess wax.
Apply another coat of watered down emulsion - note this will run off where wax is. Should dry off pretty quick.
Add some brown boot/shoe polish (solid stuff in tin) to a lint free (non fluff giving) rag. Rub lightly all over - and I mean lightly.
You could also try some gold model paint in routs and lightly rub back when dry.
When you're happy with what it looks like you need to seal it. I prefer acrylic varnish as it dries quickly and doesn't yellow with age. I've used cheap wood acrylic varnish to a really good affect. You can apply with a brush but if you start at the top and work with grain to bottom with a lint free cloth lightly dipped and wipe quickly you can achieve several thin even coats in next to no time.

Good luck

andenuva, would this work with one of those hypervarnished orangey pine jobbies?

It's probably orangey due to an oil based varnish.

Make sure you key back really well before you apply any paint.

Should work fine.

If you want a really smoothe finish sand back with fine sand paper after the first coat. Clean crud, leave to dry and then carry on.

If you are keeping the original handles think about how they would have "aged" and do something about it (metal/verdigrais? Wood/ wax/bpolish affect?) . If you are changing handles remember to take off originals before you start.

Awesome!!! You can be my DIY guru. THANK YOU. I come form a long line of bookish useless little people. Key back really well = use coarse sandpaper more/longer? Should all orangey traces be gone?

Annie Sloan paint is good, sticks to any surface with no priming needed! Does need to be waxed afterwards though. Have a look at her website for ideas if nothing else.

Be careful about preparing the surface well on furniture- if it's not done REALLY thoroughly the new paint might just scrape right off again! On orange pine particularly you could try something like Easy Surface Prep (ESP) I don't thing ordinary emulsion would work on modern orange pine yukkiness otherwise no matter how much sanding...

Definitely first sand thoroughly so all varnish has come off. First coarse sandpaper (you can also rent a sander) and then fine and very fine sand paper for the last passes. Then undercoat for wood. Let thoroughly dry and then paint topcoat with wood paint and possibly further coat for even better finish. You may be able to use a roller for the larger surfaces to get a better finish.