hi there i would appreciate advice on the following

I bought a secondhand solid pine bookcase which has some sort of
varnish on it -a light matt one i think - probably acrylic

it has some scratches on the wood so i am sanding it down to get rid
of those

i would like to either revarnish it or paint it but i am not sure what
to use

if i revarnish it that seems straightforward and will probably take it
remove all the existing varnish just by sanding (i think i need to do
that to get a nice finish - not patchy - do i need to do that?)
i like the look of natural wood with a clear finish (but not sure my
son will prefer that!)

so to make a nice design i think it's better that i paint it instead
- so
if i paint it then really i want to end up with a background colour
for the design say white and then being able to paint a simple kids
design on top - say stenciled alphabet etc

does it matter what i paint over varnish with ?

and what do i paint on top of the base colour with ?

i thought i'd use gloss but then i think the colours to go on top of
that won't work ? ie will bleed or not endure

how do i seal in the design ?

it all must be very durable as it's for a kid's room

i think they are always doing this in those tv programs but i don't
get what paints they use

i remember pva being mentioned - is it something to do with that

thanks for any help
and advice on best shop to go to for this kind of stuff

i am a novice on all this

regards
JD

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