Painting floorboards?

[MrsKitty]

I'd quite like to paint the floorboards in my daughters room with white paint, but only if it's not going to be too much bother.

Would it be disastrous if I just paint directly onto the boards rather than removing the varnish first?

It's not going to be a heavily used floor and the vast majority of it will be covered by a rug (small room, large rug!) but I just think white floorboards poking out of the edges of the rug will look far nicer than the current horrid orangey varnish.

Any thoughts please?

If you paint straight onto varnish, the paint may not bond well. It's best to give the boards a sand (doesn't have to be a big job with one of those industrial sanders, just enough to scratch the varnish a bit), then some primer then the paint.

Hmm, that's what I thought. DH refusing to entertain any level of sanding due to the dust. Would primer then paint work without the sanding do you think?

I think you really need to "key" (ie sand ) the varnish. As lalalonglegs mentioned, you don't need to sand back to the bare wood, but you do have to sand the varnish to provide a surface to which primer or paint will adhere.

Have convinced DH that it won't be too hard to do and that I'll 'help'. Hopefully he won't change his mind by next week!

Thanks for advice Woodrose & Lala