As I mentioned in the last post, I foresee some changes happening to this room as it has started evolving more rapidly since the addition of the area rug. The paintings are still safe for now but JT and I have discussed a re-do. (He’s on board, gotta love that guy.) Instead we had an out-of-the-blue, spur-of-the-moment, why-the-hell-not ottoman makeover project on our long Labor Day weekend.
It started a while ago, when we got the new sofa. We’ve been loving this thing and basically live on it (I’m typing from there right now). We thought an upholstered ottoman might be more comfortable than the Ikea Strind for general lounging about – the Strind has two large glass panels that have somehow survived two moves but did take out JT’s smartphone once – and on a half-off Saturday at Goodwill we came across the perfect candidate. Will you look at that, it actually fit perfectly into the truck. (Can you tell we’re kind of in love with our truck? #trucknerds)
If your eagle eyes can read that Goodwill tag on the ragged corner of this bonded-leather beauty, you are correct that it says $5.99. And don’t forget – it was half off day! So this ottoman only cost $3.00! Not quite because we still had to purchase fabric as I wasn’t keeping it in THIS condition but not too shabby.
While we still had “the thing” penned up in the back of the truck and airing out from the eau-de-Goodwill, we stopped by Joann for the next purchase. JT was definitely the only man in the store and he marveled at the size and quantity (and need for) so much crafting stuff. Or maybe he was more perplexed than marveling. Your call.
We found this great Nate Berkus fabric that should have been $45 for our three yards but we scored for $22.50 thanks to a major Labor Day sale. So let’s bring our ottoman price up to $25.50 and call it good. I also bought the buttons shown in the picture above but decided once I had the thing upholstered that I didn’t want them.
Then began the disassembly process. JT tackled the much-abused base with some Restor-A-Finish we had on hand from the Danish Daybeds. I removed a percentage of the staples (especially around the corners where I knew we would need to be adding more staples back in) and the black tack fabric to remove some bulk. We left the bonded leather in place and cut the tufting buttons free from the inside of the frame. The fabric cutting and sewing process did not get photo documentation but took the span of about five Friends episodes and ended with a locked up sewing machine about one inch from the end of the last seam. I need to take the machine in to get oiled and serviced, it’s probably about time.
Once the bottomless cube was (imperfectly) sewn up (and please note I was careful to choose a fabric that would disguise my low seamstress skills), it was time to stretch that baby onto the (heavily Febreezed with my own homemade concoction of vodka, vinegar and lavender essential oil) base! We used our trusty Stanley staple gun with 3/8″ staples and pounded in any stragglers with a hammer. The staples didn’t have any trouble going through both our new upholstery and the bonded leather (or vinyl?) so I’m glad we didn’t go to the pain of removing the original material. I included the last picture above to highlight JT’s drill bit extender – this has come in really handy when you need to attach screws in a deep pocket like this frame had.
And the afters! We’re loving it and definitely changing out our paintings to get rid of the mossy greens and clay colors. And that wet bar … I’ve got my eye on that catch-all-junk, 80s eyesore of a wet bar.
There’s starting to be a lot of pattern going on in this room and we considered going with a milder ottoman fabric but we figured for the price we might as well “go bold or go home” as they say.
Then I styled it up with a tray I had on hand and some of the items that were living on the coffee table before.
There you have it – the living room has morphed again. All while Shenanigan gave us the cold shoulder from his puppy pillow perch in the corner. He is still mad at us for a camping “adventure” we had Friday night near Flagstaff. Needless to say he was not a happy camper and so we cut the trip short and so our ottoman project was a great diversion on a long weekend. Have a great short week and we’ll be back at the weekend before you know it! Cheers – CT
Living Analog 