How much sanding is enough before painting?

[bleedingheart]

I have an old piece of varnished furniture that I am going to paint. Roughed it up with a piece of sand paper...(fine grit) and I think it is good enough to paint...

Hubby thinks I need to power sand it...but I think that is just because he loves power sanding...

any input?

[Warpy]

1. What you need is a surface rough enough for paint to cling to

and paint really hates to cling to varnish.

Fine sandpaper does a good enough job for a temporary paint job, but the paint will eventually fail.

I'd be more inclined to strip off the varnish, then prime and paint the furniture, but that's only if I decide on a color I won't mind living with forever. If it's a fashion color that I'll be likely to change in a couple of years, I'll do the halfassed job with the sander.

[bleedingheart]

2. the whole set of furniture cost my mom $200 from Sears

back in 1969...right before I was born....and now I still use in in my bedroom...but I wanna dress it up a bit to give it a few more years of life before perhaps buying my own...hahahaha

[eleny]

3. My husband has been doing a bunch of painting

We have new interior doors. He's been sanding, painting and then sanding again very lightly with fine sandpaper and then painintg a final time. His work has been turning out so nice. The painted finishes look really good.