How to paint over wood furniture?

.. I purchased a Espresso Color, high hub style 3 piece dining set a few months ago.. Now with the new purchase I'm about to make the color isn't really working for me anymore.. I wanted to know how would I be able to paint over the wood in a black finish.. But I really don't want it to look cheap in anyway.. Those HGTV projects come to mind, they never look bad when paint over a finish.. How do they do that?