Furniture and Furnishings - Painting Furniture

I have a large, square coffee table that I have sanded and primed. I want to paint it a cream color and distress it. My questions is....how do I paint the furniture without showing brush strokes? When I primed it, you could see all the brush lines, and it looks pretty bad. I don't want to make the same mistake on the final coat. All help and advice is appreciated!

Depending on color or wood speccies the first step is to distress the raw wood using several screws, nails nuts and bolts tied o a string .Sand to a smooth feel . 220 grit sandpaper will be enough to end the sanding process. If you are going to apply a solid color using lacquer, remove all dirt . Mix the lacquer color with lacquer thiner on a 25% mixture and sray evenly .Lacquer will dry within the hour . You can apply any glaze to the lacquer surface with a sponge or a soft brush. Go gently on your brush strokes .
You can then recoat with a clear satin lacquer finish for a profesional result.The difference in the result wiil show if you use a spraying equipment versus a simple brush

It also helps to use very good quality brushes . . . I have painted several pieces of furniture and although I am ALWAYS trying to do EVERYTHING on a budget I found the hard way that sometimes it is best to spend a little more. Better brushes really do make a difference. Also, thinner coats of paint, allowing them to dry well inbetween, and not overworking (brushing too much) will help. Those sponge tipped wand things are also very popular, and obviously leave no brush marks, however, I have never liked them for some reason, they just don't feel right . . . that is just me being peculiar, mind you!:-)

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Louise