Can I varnish over paint?

Question

I have a cupboard in my porch which is painted white just now. I am planning to do the room up and wanted the cupboard to be a nice wooden colour. Can I varnish over paint or is there a paint out there that would make it look like it had been varnished i.e. a nice brown colour?

Answer 1

Varnish is not going to turn white paint a brown color. it won't change the color much at all.

i think you are thinking of wood stain. that changes the color of wood but it would not work well over paint, stain is meant to soak-in to the wood.

you should be able to find a nice paint that would give you the color you are after. paint is make in several finishes, from dull matt finishes to high gloss, so you can select the amount of gloss that would give you the look you want from varnish.

Answer 2

You can put varnish on a oil based paint but not a water based. To achieve the look you want either use a brown paint or a stain and by using a stiff chip brush you can get a pretty good grain look on your cupboard. If you use the stain method put a water based urethane like polyacrylic on it and it will be nice and durable for you. Good luck Les the painter

Answer 3

Sorry mate but the best way is to strip the paint off and sand it down and then you can stain it and varnish it!
Any other way will end up looking like a botched job

Answer 4

If it's proper wood then it's worth the effort of stripping off the paint and sanding it and then treating it with either varnish or oil.no paint or varnish will really make it look like wood although you can get wood grain effect paint

Answer 5

My Dad used to do a cracking job with this
He painted the background white.
Then using a mould, formed knots, with brown paint, this was followed with a special comb to make the grain with the brown paint.
When it was all dry he varnished it with clear varnish

Answer 6

you can varnish over paint, however keep in mind that your varnish will amber over time, changing the color of your paint, also, if you are going to varnish over a glossy surface, you need to sand lightly before varnishing, this in turn gives your varnish something to grip to. Hope this helps.

Answer 7

you can do that,,,

but if your looking for a nice brown wood color.. might I suggest striping the paint sanding off what the striper doesnt get... then using one of the nice stains they have out...

you might take a scrap part of wood paint it and then varnish it to see what it looks like before you put a lot of work into it... just to find out you dont like it

Answer 8

For the best look, sand down the paint and then varnish. Trust me, it will look better!!

Answer 9

Like J M says its called paint and grain and you just go over the existing decor ,so much easier than stripping all the old paint off

Answer 10

There is a kit that you can buy in B&Q it goes on in two stages there are various colours you also get a combing tool so that you can get the effect of natural wood. You may have to practice on a spare piece of wood first though.