Ottoman Makeover

For those that have been following along for quite a while may have seen my original ottoman makeover. This beauty of an ottoman surprisingly enough use to be a table…that I made in high school shop class. (Or maybe my shop teacher mostly made it! 🙂 )

I originally did this project when we first moved into our home.  I chose to go with an outdoor fabric because I had a little one…now I have two little ones!  I really loved how it looked but it was starting to show stains and wear and tear so it was time to give it an update.  Plus I was looking for something a little different in style.

Here is what it looked like before:

You can see that the fabric was stretched out and there were stains.  I will say though it held up quite well for how often it was used and how many times it was spilled on! I was doing a little fabric shopping and fell in love with this jean looking fabric.  Unfortunately, it was not an outdoor fabric so I decided the perfect way to protect it, once finished, was to use Scotchgard™ Fabric & Upholstery Protector.

It’s a great way to protect your furniture from messy little ones.  It has invisible protection that repels liquids and blocks stains.  It not only can be used on furniture but also on clothing, chair cushions, table linens, pillows, curtains and lots more!

To start my makeover I decided to cut off all of the fabric.  Typically when I recover something I leave the previous fabric on, but this fabric was stretched out and just seemed a little dirty to me.

I then was left with a clean slate, so I laid the fabric on top of the ottoman and evenly spaced it out.  Once there was enough fabric on each side of the ottoman I then gave each side two to three staples to keep it in place.  Once it was set I added a few more staples to ensure that it was secure before folding in the edges.

On all of the corners of the ottoman, you will have excess fabric.  It’s easier to work with if you cut down the fabric so there is less to maneuver when folding.

Take one side of the fabric and fold it in to create a straight fold on the edge of the ottoman.

Then all that is left is to fold the second half in to make a matching fold.  You will use staples underneath to keep the folds in place.

You will want to make sure that the fabric is tight on the sides of the corners so that you don’t have any sagging fabric.  You want crisp folds and a tight covering for the most professional look.

Once you have completed all four corners then it’s time to flip the ottoman over and put lots and lots of staples on the fabric to keep that puppy in place!

You can cut off the excess fabric or fold it under the table and staple it. I did a little bit of a mixture of both.

Once the stapling was finished and the base of the fabric ottoman was in place it was time to make buttons for tufting.  You can find fabric button kits at your local craft store to make the buttons for tufting.

I was originally planning to do the same fabric for the tufting but I thought it would be fun to spice it up a bit and use different fabrics.  I went down to my craft closet to grab scraps of fabric and came across a piece of fabric I bought on sale at my local craft store.

It had really fun colors and a few different patterns to it so I decided to cut out different areas to use for my buttons.

There are a lot of methods for tufting but I found that drilling holes in your ottoman and then looping the thread through is the best method.  You then secure the button in place by tying it to a scrap piece of fabric to cover the hole and keep the button in place.  If you want a more detailed tutorial you can go to my post, Extreme Makeover Ottoman.

Once tufted the last step to your project is to use the fabric protector.  To start you will want to prepare the area and protect items around it that you don’t want overspray to get on.  Shake the can well and test to make sure that it will work with your fabric.

You can do that by spraying a hidden area and then wipe it vigorously with a white cloth.  If the color comes off then do not use it!  If it doesn’t then you are good to go to apply it to your project.

Hold the can upright and start spraying 6 inches and overlapping using a slow, sweeping motion.  Two light coats are better than one heavy coat.

Although you will want to allow time to dry in between coats.  You will want to reapply every 3-6 months depending on its daily usage for the best protection.  In my case, probably best to do it every 3 months!

Final Reveal

Thanks for stopping by today!  My little girls are keeping me busy but I am throwing some DIY projects in my schedule which feels great!

DIY is like my therapy and it calms me…when things go as planned of course!  What’s your favorite project you have created?  How do you protect your projects from little hands?

By the way how adorable was my little helper?  Hanging out with me while I put on the new fabric! Have a great rest of your week and I’ll see you later this week for another fun craft I’ve been working on!