re: What paint to use on wood?

If you want the wood grain to still show through you can white wash it. Mix equal parts of latex paint and water. Even though it's called white washing, you can use any color you want.

If you don't want/care about the grain showing, I'd use chalk paint. It's really thick so there's no need to prime and it's "ultra matte" so there won't be any shine at all.