DIY - Stripped Ottoman

My latest project...

BEFORE

 

AFTER

  

From an ottoman into a coffee table.

Taking inspiration from Thomas Wold I deconstructed this ugly ottoman. I wanted to change this flowery puffy mess into something stripped down and a bit industrial. 

I tore all of the fabric and stuffing off and was left with a box (it opens up by the way, for storage), made from very cheap wood. I liked the wood and it's grain, I liked the roughness of it. Once I removed the foam pad from the top, I was left with a lid with three holes. I painted leftover MDF a deep red and my pops cut it into three pieces to fit underneath the lid. I then screwed the three panels to the underside of the lid.

The box, once stripped, was full of imperfections and pencil marks. I liked that very much and wanted to add something extra to make it look even more like a shipping crate. I cut stencils from printer paper and stenciled the numbers, letters and symbols onto the box with regular black acrylic paint.

I then varnished everything twice with a Satin Oil-Based Poly. It deepened the color of the wood and keeps the paint protected. Next I used upholstery nails to add a bit of metal and lastly screwed in the new legs.  

Thanks for looking!

Comments

[Christy]

Oh my gosh I love that so much. That is brilliant.

[olga]

Thank you so much Christy!!

[Anna @ D16]

I came here from D*S, and I've just gotta say -- that is so rad. I'm totally knocked out, you are a genius!

[Kim Wike]

This is amazing. Great vision. I would have never thought to turn that ugly thing into something so cool. Where did you get the new legs?

[Cheryl]

Where did you get the new legs?

[Sara]

This is fantastic!!

[porter]

I think this is just great what you've done!

[Kaitlyn]

that's a gorgeous rehab.. i'm in love with it!!

definitely great ideas running through my head.. thanks!

[tnc]

super cute! I love it!

[debbie]

such a cool idea! makes me wonder if i can do something similar with my hideous ottoman :)

[olga]

Hi guys, thank you all so very much for the comments!

I purchased the legs at Ace Hardware. They were about 4 or 5 dollars a piece and came in different lengths. These were the 8". They also sell these legs at Home Depot and Lowes, only their legs were shorter.

[sweetcheese]

Love it!
My comment on design*sponge:

Fantastic! My tastes are usually pretty modern and this fits the bill. I'm quite impressed with the outside-the-box thinking--heck, whoever said you have to put more fabric back on when you take the old stuff off?

[Amber]

This is is brilliant, I love how it turned out, great job and thanks for sharing! Really inspirational!

[Phaedra]

I too came from d*s, and I love your innovation, waste not want not, right!

it's a truly striking piece! and thanks for the tip about where to find good legs . . .

cheers!

[Thomas Wold]

Hi Debbie,

Thanks for the mention.

Excellent project!

Best,

Thomas

[Y'ulka]

Olga I love you, this is amazing! You never give yourself enough credit. I couldn't believe my eyes when i saw the after pic!!!

[Michelle]

THis is the coolest Before/After Ive seen in a long time! Fantastic. I am going to post a link to your blog on mine...

[Brandi]

Really great!! Can`t believe all the creativity you had to have had to come up with the look of that...spectacular :)

[Sandy]

Very clever! I imagine it's a bit like dissecting a frog in HS. The first cut is the hardest - the rest is an adventure.

[LexyB]

You are too ingenious. Love it

[jel]

that's one of the best before and after's i've seen in a long time. I especially love the stenciling.