Like all awesome people, I love TARGET. Their home decor is unmatched for the price and the clearance. I go in at least once a week and peruse all the marked down goodies. A few weeks ago I left with these $3 mixed material Threshold picture frames. I loved the idea but I didn’t really love the orange tinted finish on the wood or the nickel finished metal.
I decided to take the orange finish off the wood using Citristrip. I was skeptical but figured I’d just be out $3 if I tested it out on one frame first. Spoiler: it worked 😉
I taped off the metal because I wasn’t sure what the Citristrip would do to it. I then just painted the Citristrip on and let it work it’s magic for about 30 minutes. I started out using a metal trowel to scrap the old finish off but it was too wide. I wound up using a random piece of small plastic to scrape it all off. Some of the crevices in the wood were stubborn so I used a metal wire brush to get the Citristip in and the finish off.
This is when the stripped wood was still wet, so it was darker than the official after.
I love the natural tone of the wood now. I have some wax I could finish it with but I don’t think it’s necessary. After the wood dried I used some Gold acrylic craft paint I had on hand from my DIY painted curtains. I just brushed it on in a thin layer, let it dry then added a second coat. I loved the way they looked so I let them dry over night.
Now you’re asking yourself where is the DIY fail? Well I woke up to them looking like this.
The acrylic paint was bubbling and peeling. Womp, womp…I really thought acrylics were okay to use on metal? I’m not so sure now but I’m going to sand this off and grab a can of my trusty Rustoleum spray paint and fix this FAIL!! I’m on an overnight trip out of town right now but I’ll update ya when it’s done 🙂
I had no idea there was a product that could do that! It just takes the orange out of the wood stain, or removes the stain all together? I wouldn’t have thought twice about the acrylic on metal either, but you’re totally right – it’s nothing a can of spray paint can’t fix! I love the new wood colour and with the gold they look SO fab! Can’t wait to see how it all comes together in the end!!!
Thanks! Citristrip is awesome and it’s not toxic like other strippers. You can use it indoors without a mask. It takes the finish (paint, varnish, stain, etc.) completely off.