Greetings:

I hang around the cooking forum a lot, and this is my first posting in the paint forum. Any guidance about this project will be appreciated.

I recently acquired 4 stained glass panels, each about 50 inches by 16 inches. They are quite colorful. As it happens they will fit just great suspended by chains in front of 4 long tall dining room windows. (On the inside, of course--they will not be exposed to the outside elements although the non-seen side of the panels will be exposed to sun filtered through the glass of the original window.) The frames of these panels appears to be clear pine, and they have been sanded down to bare wood. I'm thinking bright white high gloss frames would do a good job of showing off the colors of the stained glass.

It's gonna be a major PITA to hang these safely and properly, and I only want to put these up once--and I'd like whatever finish goes on the frames to last a long time under these conditions. I'd like advice on finishing the frames: what sort of primer to use on the raw wood, what sort of enamel paint to use over the wood.

Someone suggested an oil based primer like Zinsser Bulls Eye followed by a high gloss latex enamel.

Whatever I choose, I may use the same stuff to paint the trim around the existing window frames, but I really wouldn't want to go all the way down to bare wood for that if I could avoid it.

Before undertaking this project, I'm having to make some shop storage boxes out of plywood. I'll paint them and use them for practice so I can learn about the behavior of whatever paint I choose.

I'm reasonably handy with a brush, and (probably more importantly) I can follow instructions. As far as sources, in our town we have Benjamin Moore and Sherwin Williams paint stores along with Home Depot and Lowes. Since this won't take too much paint, the cost is not a major factor in the paint I choose. I'd rather spend money up front than have to repaint these panels in 5 years.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions and guidance.