Is there an easy way to paint over varnished wood ceiling?

[Pannacotta]

I can't face having to sand down the whole ceiling then priming it, followed by more sanding and two coats of paint.

Is there an easy way of doing this?

We will be replacing the ceiling in a couple of years but I can't face living with dark varnished pine over my head for that long!

TIA

To be honest with you I wouldn't bother with the sanding as it's not an area that is likely to get knocked and bumped so it's unlikly that the paint would get chipped off. Paint a small area with the paint you have chosen to see if it applies and dries okay looking but I think it'll be fine.

I would use some good quality oil-based paint like Farrow & Ball - I used it straight onto melamine panels in our old kitchen and it was fine - and if you take your time doing it you might get away with just one coat... If you do a small patch and it doesn't adhere well I would lightly sand first and then apply the paint. I wouldn't bother with primer or a second coat.

I have painted over orange varnished bannisters, spindles and stair strings in 2 houses.

As they get swung on touched a lot by the children I gave them very light sanding, then used dulux satinwood in this house, previous house used B&Q anywhere paint.

They have chipped in 2 very tiny places and I just touched them up but that is because they smashed toys into them. A ceiling would be fine.

You can get primer to go over melamine, so if you wanted extra staying power for the paint I would go for that. Then top with a quality eggshell, like F&B.

Thanks all, will see if I can get away without using primer and will get some decent paint, as suggested.

You can get something called ESP easy surface primer which eliminates sanding wood all you do is put it on the wood surface with a cloth leave for a couple of housr and then paint over it