Side table ottoman upcycle

Last week I picked up this ugly old coffee table from an op shop. On the ugliness scale it was hideous! However, the little table had three things going for it:

1. It was solid as a rock, looks like it was made by a home handy man and completely over engineered!
2. It had great legs, mid century legs like this alone are around $40 on ebay. If all else fails I could just sell the legs.
3. It was only $3.00.....THREE DOLLARS!

So I bought it home and got to work. I unscrewed the legs stripped all the white enamel paint using Citristrip.

After all the layers of paint were removed, beautiful timber was revealed. The legs were sanded, coated with Scandinavian oil, waxed and polished with carnauba wax to a silky smooth finish.

I had a piece of 75mm foam cut to size for the top. I upholstered a layer of wadding by cutting to size and stapling underneath to make the ottoman top. Now its ready for fabric! Tip: Spray the foam with spray glue, that helps it stay put while working on it.

There are a few ways to upholster the top of an ottoman. The first way is to create a strip or gusset around the edge, if you are new to sewing or upholstery this way can be a little more tricky as you have to match fabric patterns and direction. You can also neatly fold your corners and staple them in place (the easiest quickest way) or you can stitch the corners. As my fabric print is directional I went with stitching the corners, it only take a little bit more time than folding and the end result is much neater. I measured the ottoman top and worked out my corners and stitched them accordingly. You can also lay your fabric over the top inside out, pin and tailor it to fit. Once the fabric is perfectly fitted, staple and trim off the excess. I have this gorgeous teal blue feather home décor fabric by Premier Prints I bought to have one of my mid century chairs upholstered. Luckily I bought extra!

The legs were a little long so hubby cut them off at the bottom and we were finished! A perfect little foot stool, table or extra seating for little people.

If you try any of my projects yourself, don't forget to tag me on facebook, instagram or send me a message. I would love to see your work!

Jodie xx