DIY Ottoman under $100

I made this ottoman 2 years ago when moving into my first solo apartment. I was trying to find one online and any large ottoman was pricey. I decided I'd give it a DIY try and see how well I could do. 

I looked on Pinterest trying to figure out the best way to make one and created an attack plan.

Materials I Used

- 2 x 4's

- plywood square

- 4 decorative fence toppers (these will be used as your feet

- decorative wood trim (optional)

- spray adhesive

- foam - I used 4in thick

- muslin

- quilt batting

- staple gun

- fabric

- drill

- screws

Decide how large and what shape you want. Start out by cutting your 2 x 4s into 4 equal lengths (if you want a square) with a 45 degree angle on the end. Nail these together to create your base

Nail a fence topper to each corner to create the feet. 

I used nailed decorative trim on the sides of the 2x4 to give it more of a finished look and painted it all white. 

Take your plywood, this should be cut to be the same size as your 2x4 frame. Cut and arrange the foam on top to completely cover the wood surface. You are creating the cushion part on top.  

I had troubles finding foam the exact size so I pieced it together to cover it. Use your spray adhesive to permanently attach the foam to the wood. 

To eliminate the lines that piecing the foam together created and add a little more height I used a layer of quilting batting. 

I also layered muslin prior to my final fabric to help smooth these lines out even more. I attached it in the same manner as the final fabric that I describe below. 

I ordered this fabric from fabricguru.com. Sometimes it's easier for me to scroll through pictures than wonder around aimlessly at the fabric store. Fabric guru will send you a sample square for a $1 so you can feel and see it before ordering. 

Place your fabric with outside face down. 

Place your ottoman top down, plywood up in the center of your fabric. 

Start on one side and use your staple gun to attach the fabric to the plywood. 

I did the two opposite sides first, then the next two. I wrapped the corners like you would with a present. 

Once all the fabric is stapled you can cut off any excess that you have.

To connect the top to the base use your drill and screws that are long enough to reach through the 2x4 and anchor to the plywood. 

Flip over...

YOU HAVE AN OTTOMAN!

This time around I just recovered it and the design allowed me to reupholster it in about 20 minutes. 

-Madeline

Bathroom (in progress)

Last week one evening I was super impatient and just grabbed a sample size can of gray that I had left over from another project and started painting. I can be slightly impulsive and impatient. Sometime it works out and others, not so much...

This time it worked!

Here are some lovely before shots.

Mid-week the wood had been painted gray. 

The rest of the bathroom needed to be painted as well. I decided I'd enjoy my long weekend painting my bathroom instead of going to Sasquatch (sarcasm).

See how yellow-y the old white was?

So bright, white, and clean!

Here is a good shot to show the difference in the old and new white.   

Ahh look at how much better it looks!!

Such a BIG difference with just a little (a lot) of paint. 

Sooner or later I may replace the hardware. There is so much storage (not complaining), it ends up being pricey replacing that many handles. 

Walk-in closet under $165.00

What do you do when you live in a 3 1/2 bedroom house alone?  Make one of the extra bedrooms into a walk in closet!!

Items purchased:

(2) book shelves: I went with this exact one from IKEA because of look and price point 

 pole and socket kit

wooden pole: I went down to my local hardware store, McLendons and a really nice guy helped me find one and then cut it to the correct length for me. 

Next all you have to do is spend the time struggling to put the bookshelves together and screw the socket set to the sides.

The bookshelves set up prior to me running to buy the socket and pole. 

DONE and unpacked!

When you first walk in to the room you see my craigslist dresser redo

 Surprisingly I want to say this only took me maybe two hours. It was a long day of moving...

I'm still working on jewelry storage, mirror, and maybe a bench!

                                                       

801 Tour

On Sunday I received the keys to 801 finally! Since then I've been slowly moving loads down as well starting to paint EVERYTHING....

But here is a tour of the house as is!  Lots more to come as we paint and I get all moved in.  Sorry for the horrible photos but I had forgotten my real camera at home.

The Dining room that you enter into
from the front door

The Living room to the left when you walk in

Walking through the dining room you enter in the kitchen.  Which is large enough for a breakfast table.  There is lots of work to be done in the kitchen.  The cupboards need to be painted and there is tons of damage on the wall where there was a leak.

Area for breakfast table

The back door looking from the hallway

So man cupboards to paint...

You then walk through the kitchen to the only bathroom in the house.  This also needs lots of love like the kitchen does.  Lots of paint on cupboards and drawers and hopefully new hardware will make this space feel new and different.

Then on the first floor is the largest bedroom.

Then in the small hallway there is a stair case that leads upstairs to smaller bedrooms.  These both are slightly finished but atop the stairs is still raw cedar plank.  I'm hoping to pain this and brighten the upstairs.

If you look closely you can see the cutest gold
dust catchers in the corners of the stairs.

The raw cedar plank walls

The front small upstairs bedroom

The back small upstairs room

In the past week I have (along with help from my Dad) have painted the large bedroom and the living room.  I prepped the dining room so that my dad can tackle that while I'm at work tomorrow.  I'm hoping to also get the small bedroom upstairs painted before I make the big move in this weekend.  I want to be able to kind of set up my closet when I move in and painting that first will make it easier.  I haven't decided if I should do a color in the kitchen.  

Right now everything is being painted with Benjamin Moore's intense white.  It is covering wonderfully and giving it a nice cool white feeling.  At first it was a weird color next to the warm yellow beige white the walls were prior.  I had a small freak out moment thinking "AM I PAINTING MY HOUSE BLUE!?" Once the rooms were completed and the old color covered it feels white. So weird!

Can't wait to move my bed, couch, and other large items on Saturday.  It will be easier to work on the house once I'm in it instead of needing to prep to go work on it and just be there.

project, projects, projects

Time flew by and all of the sudden it is Spring and I haven't finished any projects and I'm moving in a month and a half!  This means that I haven't started any project because I know that I'm going to move soon.  I can't wait to have an entire canvas of a house to play with!

Projects I have on my list of to do's:

1. refurbish my free Papasan Chair (that is just chilling in my hallway until I move).

2. paint my free lamp (navy?) and make my new lamp shade work

3. frame for my painting from Nicaragua

4. complete throw pillows with the fabric  I picked up in India (over a year ago....whoops)

5. paint my extra craigslist dresser (that is being stored in my hall closet until I move... I'm kind of turning into a hoarder prior to the move).

6. Finally finish my first craigslist dresser that I picked up two years ago...

I immediately painted it white with a homemade chalk paint. Not thinking it thoroughly through I didn't put a wax or any type of top coat.  Since I put my make up on over it and usually have a cup of coffee while doing so it quickly became stained and dirty looking.

After reading a couple blogs I decided to try out oil paint. After thinking I had accidentally poisened The Mayor for a couple of hours I was finally able to appreciate the nice glossy finish.  It turned out beautiful, glossy, and lacquered looking!

    

Now it just needs some new knobs...

Cat Proof Christmas Tree

This was the first year that I braved buying a REAL Christmas tree due to The Mayor's mischievous behavior.  Last year I opted for a "cat safe" tree.  I had looked online for an alternative way of having a tree and getting in the holiday spirit.

There is always the strand lights on the wall to create a tree idea.  However I love my ornaments and this doesn't really allow me to hang them.

I also had stumbled upon this article on Apartment Therapy that actually gave me the idea to try out a pallet Christmas tree.  I know that everyone makes everything out of pallets but this one was easy.  

1. Go and pick up a free pallet (they are super easy to find, espcially on craiglist.)

2. Use a circular saw and make 2 cuts.  

3. Decorate

4. You are done!

(If you cut from the middle out the beam stays in tact and everything stays together)

Last year I ran a strand of lights zig zag up the tree.and hung my ornaments on nails.

It was super easy, cat proof, and looked adorable!!

Upholstery Fabric Spray Paint

 I finally ordered another couple of bottles of upholstery fabric spray paint from Amazon so that I could finish my $20 craigslist chair.  I had done research previously and ended up purchasing Simply Spray in navy.  I had read that you had to buy a lot of this stuff to make it stick but I didn't think that I needed 6 BOTTLES for this one chair!

Mid Project when I ran out of paint... 

     

My new cozy reading corner!

The navy ended up covering really well after going through all 6 bottles.  The fabric is a little stiff but I think it is because I was painting a crushed velvet chair.  A different fabric might not stiffen the same.  If you look closely you can definitely tell it was a DIY but for a chair that is going to sit in a corner for reading it will be perfect.  I'm not sure if this is the route that I would take for another piece of furniture and will just invest in a chair I like from the beginning... someday...