You definitely do! Annie Sloan is pricey but well worth it on bigger projects. My mom will do primer as a first coat to save on cost (I didn’t with this because I was being lazy and honestly didn’t think of it lol). I really love fusion mineral paint too! I’ll be painting another piece of furniture for my “sewing room” with a nice off white fusion paint. I also really like folk art chalk paint for smaller crafty projects (but I have also used that for furniture with great success too!)
I didn’t but my cabinets weren’t used in a kitchen first so they didn’t have any residual grease. I would definitely recommend a light sanding (nothing extreme) in your case and clean then super well with a degreaser. I also would recommend using primer for the first two coats just to help and to cut down ok paint cost. My mom painted her kitchen cabinets years ago with this chalk paint so I’ll ask her if she has any other tips for you!