ottoman – Transforming Trash

Materials used: Upholstery fabric, fabric-covered buttons, weed barrier, stuffing, 8″ furniture legs.

Back in February 2019 I picked up a second-rate occasional table made of a plywood top on what looked like a bar stool. I separated the top from the bottom and, in April 2019, transformed the bar stool bottom into a Bistro Table. More than two years later the second part of this 2-part transformation is finally complete! Initially I envisaged transforming this plywood circle into a large, framed mirror but I love it as an ottoman/stool instead.

I began by re-purposing another freebie found on our local Buy Nothing Facebook page: A very large Urban Outfitters floor pillow which yielded four trash bags of upholstery stuffing and enough heavy duty fabric to make a liner.

To get the legs and tufting buttons in the right places, I made a newspaper template.

Once I had cut and sewn the liner and outer cover I inverted them both and stuffed them with the upholstery filling.

I compacted the stuffing by sitting on the plywood while pulling the fabric taut and stapling it. When everything was secured in place I set about doing the tufting armed with some very large upholstery needles and band-aids. The fabric-covered buttons are secured on the back side by tying the thread through a regular button.

The finishing touches were felt pads on the legs and a fitted piece of weed barrier to cover the upholstering and the leg hardware. Who knew that stretchable weed barrier would be as good an alternative to cambric, if not better?

Transformation cost: $73.51 (which includes $16.21 for the throw pillow)

Without doubt this was the most challenging and time consuming project I have worked on so far. Were it not for these two things I might have quit: 1) I had a special client: A dear friend’s daughter who is expecting the family’s first grand-baby 2) I never quit! I’m really a very stubborn person and when I start something I am pretty determined to see it through. There were times when I wasn’t sure I could finish it in time or to the standard I like to set. In the end my perseverance paid off and when it all came together I finally fell in love with the piece.

When I saw that a neighbor was discarding this furniture set I quickly thought of my friend’s expectant daughter. A little research showed that it was a project worth doing; a similar piece by this manufacturer would retail for >$400.

Apart from worn out cushion covers, some slats missing from the ottoman, and some scuffed paintwork, the piece was generally in good condition. The only repair it needed was to a crossbar on the chair.

The theme for this piece was to be “Winnie The Pooh” with a yellow, gray and white color scheme. In the end I went with Annie Sloan chalk paint (not the paint pictured here) in English Yellow.

First order of the day was a thorough cleaning with a weak soap solution. Although you don’t have to sand a surface before applying chalk paint I did smooth out some blemishes in the paint finish and sand the very polished factory finish on the arms of the chair.

It transpired that painting a glider rocker and ottoman is nigh on impossible. Fortunately I’m always up for a challenge but my resolve did waver as I painstakingly applied coat after coat after coat. Fortunately by the third coat (which I applied with a wax brush rather than the regular paintbrush I had been using) I got the uniform look I was aiming for.

But the ordeal was not over! I still needed to add 2 coats of clear wax to give protection and a lovely sheen to the finish.

Once the painting was complete my husband added the slats that were missing from the ottoman

To replace the cushion covers I used the old, unpicked covers as a pattern guide for the new fabric. A brand new throw pillow in the feature fabric brings together all the colors of the piece.