well. I have a 16 inch square table in my living room now. It needs some pizazz... I'm thinking like Mexican folk art: bright colurful paint and designs but I'm also seeing a more Tibetan/Indian Mandala. After the base coat, do I HAVE to have a certain paint if I use urethane over the finished product, ya think? could I use cheaper paint with a finish coat? I'm tempted to take it to the next show I see and live paint the top. see www.scramblecampbell.com for what I mean. (Scramble did a portrait of my sweetie last weekend and included me. I was not present at the painting.)
When painting wood you have two main options, oil based or water based. Water based paint will not stick to oil based primer. Oil based primer will stick to water based primer, but not too well. It is best to stick with one type. Water based is much easier to clean up. So unless the painted object is going to be stored out of doors water based is cheapest and usualy what is done. If you go with a water based paint you can use either water or oil based polyurithane as a top clear coat. Some polys (both types) are treated to perevent UV discoloration. Since this is a dumpster dive, you probably should sand it down to bare wood before starting. That way you know what is going on. It would be a real shame if your paint was incompatible with the existing finish.