What is the best paint to use when painting furiture?

Since I don't know what the night stand is made of, I will guess that it is wood with a shiny coating. You would have to sand the entire surface thoroughly before painting and after using wall paint, you would have to seal the entire piece to prevent chipping (some sort of urethane). OR you can use paint made just for furniture like Chalk Paint of Fusion Mineral paint that requires minimal prep and no sealing, unless you like the look of a wax, aged coating.

I agree that you'd need to do a light sanding at least just to help the paint adhere. You can use any paint. If it'll get a lot of use, say moving stuff on top of it a lot, you should probably seal at least that part.

something I've recently been considering is using porch paint for a piece of furniture, as it will stand up to use. You can use wall paint, just use a good primer and make sure you allow the paint to cure for two weeks prior to use.