"John" wrote in message
...
We have an old piece of furniture that my wife wants to refinish white
for my daughter's room. The piece is a maple piece varnished with a
gloss finish (but finishes are my weak point so I can't tell if it's
an oil based varnish or not...).

Strip the finish, sand, put a light stain if desired, then refinish with
multiple coats of polyurethane, cure four weeks, wet sand, rottenstone,
pumice, wax. It will be a lovely piece of furniture rather than a cheap
looking white piece.

I'm assuming I need to sand, but do I need to sand the finish right
off, or just score it so the paint stays?

You can go over sanded finish.



Also, what kinds of paint would people recommend?

Never painted good wood so I don't know for sure. Probably a gloss latex,
but the paint store can advise better. Oil enamels are pretty much gone
these days.