DIY Ottoman #2

My living room is in a state of flux.  I'm slowly changing it's look and working towards replacing all of the furniture.  I still have the Chesterfield sofa in the barn that I'm planning to reupholster, but it's on the back burner for the time being.  I plan to work on that this winter.  You might be thinking, "It is winter."  But, hey, as I sit here typing, it is 77 degrees outside and my azaleas, roses, and irises are in full bloom.  No wonder I'm confused.

Anyway, daughter found this old table at an estate sale for me.  I was actually looking for a round one in this style, but I thought having an octagon would be interesting.

 It's sort of Louis XVI meets the 80's.

Once again, five inch foam.  Luckily, the table is short enough so that putting this big chunk of foam doesn't make it way too tall...just barely.

I cut the top to fit, allowing for a half inch seam all the way 'round.  By the way, I found this fabric at Hancock Fabrics and I loved it right away.  However, I didn't realize how much purple it had in it until I got it home.  Hmm.  Not loving how the purple in the fabric clashes with the red in the rug.  And, you know why this isn't working for me?  Because I don't love the rug.  Never loved the rug.  Even less so now.  I bought it because I was desperate for a new rug in the living room and this one was a decent price for the size I needed in the color family that I needed.  On-line, the red didn't look so red and I thought it would be neutral enough to work with the other ideas I had.  That's what happens when I ignore my own rule about decorating with things I love.  Why do I keep having to learn this lesson over and over?

So, anyway, I went back and forth on this...cut one strip to go all the way around the sides, or cut each of the eight sides individually and have seams at all corners.  I opted for the eight pieces so that the corners would be crisper instead of looking like a round cushion on top of an octagonal table.

More welting.  Man, am I ever glad that I found this tutorial on making bias tape for welting.  It saves a whole bunch of time and is so easy!

Self welt on the top of the cushion. contrasting welt on the underside to cover the rough edges.

Basically finished, except that I'm going to put four large buttons and very slightly tuft the top with them.  I've learned that the buttons I can buy at the fabric store are really not that great of an option for upholstery.  The fabric is too thick, it's hard to put the buttons together and they come apart too easily.  From now on, I'm either going to have buttons covered for me at an upholstery shop or find some better quality buttons that I can cover myself.

Now.  What to do about that red.  Ugh.  Does anyone know if I can paint a wool rug with fabric paint?

Ottoman DIY #1

Whew!  I've been busy, folks.  After chalk painting that old dresser, I got busy on this coffee-table-turned-ottoman for my daughter-in-law's birthday present.

I found this coffee table at the flea market.  Coincidentally, my son and daughter-in-law need a coffee table and I need a project.

It had this interesting pattern on the top that I thought might be fun to try to ceruse.

But, I couldn't find any liming wax locally.

And, daughter-in-law wanted a deep tufted upholstered top.

So, I stripped it down in preparation for painting it.  I stripped it before I discovered the chalk paint, then wished I hadn't gone to all the trouble of stripping when I could have just painted over the finish that was on it.

 

So, painted the bottom, shellacked the top.  Even though the top was destined for upholstery, I though it should have a finish on it.  Just in case...whatever.

I thought I could simply drill holes in the top and tuft the foam and fabric right onto the table top, but I realized that wasn't going to be possible.  There was no direct access to the actual top because of the  box-like structure and the drawer.  So, I tufted it on a piece of plywood first.

Then attached the plywood to the table top.

Then, uh-oh.  I didn't think ahead when I was ordering the five inch thick foam.  It made the coffee table ottoman way too tall!

Look at that!  Giant ottoman.

 

Solution.  New legs.  Little legs.  Painted and waxed.

Double welting hot glued to cover the rough edges.  Note the box construction of the table that prevented the tufting.

Welting finished.

Voila!