Paint for first furniture repaint project

pinkteapot

I have an Edwardian style leather-top pedestal desk that I'm going to sand back and paint as it's in a poor state. The desk gets a lot of use. I'm tempted to use F&B Estate Eggshell because the product info and reviews suggest it's hard-wearing and so wouldn't need varnishing.

2-3 coats of varnish on the whole desk would be a labour of love, but the whole project is and I want to do it right. I don't want the paint on the drawers to start chipping or getting marked.

Is it best to varnish no matter what paint I use? As I said, the desk is well used and may also need an occasional wipe-clean rather than just dust.

If I'm going to varnish anyway, is there any point splurging on F&B paint? Any other brands you'd recommend? I need a good choice of colours for what I'm planning.

tigs33

Instead of sanding back the existing varnish I would just paint with chalk paint and then topcoat with eggshell and varnish if you want to. Annie Sloan chalk paint is great or it is easy to make your own.

pinkteapot

I'd heard about chalk paints, but the existing finish is in such a bad state that I don't think I'll get a smooth result if I go straight to painting. Lots of chips and scratches and some heavier damage. I wanted to sand back and probably wood-filler some bits.

Photos here:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/45711141@N05/sets/72157652182790841/

The biggest headache will be the bit of missing beading shown in the last photo - not quite worked out what to do with that yet!

That and the top of it. If I was restoring the varnish I'd replace the leather, but a leather-top won't go with the painted look I'm going for. I'm going to remove the leather, see how good I can get the surface underneath, and see how deep the 'well' is that the leather sits in. If I can find some thin enough sheet wood I'll stick that in and then paint the whole top. If not... I'll have a think!