I had a friend give me a small wooden ottoman recently and since we have barely any storage I was excited to get it in and be able to organise the house a bit more. The thing is though, with two black cats and my habit of spilling coffee, nothing white stays white for long in my house, so it was time to give it a bit of a make over!
I fixed a panel on the side that was broken, tightened all the screws and then thought about what I could do with it. I didn’t want to spend money on this project so I had a rummage around the house and found two things I could use, the left over sticky back vinyl from when I did my kitchen sides and a pillowcase I bought from ikea a few years ago and never used.
I used small tack nails, carefully stretching my fabric across the front, nailing it on at the top and then the bottom before pulling it taught again and repeating the process a little further along. I also added a ribbon going from the inside front rim to the lid so that the hinges don’t get damaged from the lid hanging off the back, and it also just made it feel a bit more fancy to me.
Then I added this fake wood vinyl to the top in the same way I did my kitchen sides just to finish it off and pull it all together and I really love how it turned out. I knew where it was going so I didn’t bother doing the sides since they won’t be seen. I do have enough of this vinyl left to do them if I ever move it though, and B&M is still selling this pattern. For the finishing touch, I added some seat pillows and decorative cushions on top to turn it into a small but comfy storage bench.
I love upcycling things in this kind of way, it’s a fun project for a few hours, it’s totally free and it means I love my home all the more! What did you last make over for your home?
-Dana
Carry on Beautiful! 