My First Ottoman

Rae and I were at Goodwill shopping for china (that post is coming soon) when she made a bee-line to the furniture section. She was captivated by the facelift possibilities of the affordable coffee tables and end tables. Her passion was so persuasive that Mr. R&R drove his truck to Goodwill and brought home the treasures. The story goes off track at this point. Rae saw the potential and left me to do the work.

Goodwill coffee table with crayon marks

I decided to convert one of the coffee tables into an ottoman. I started by painting the legs of the coffee table white. I really didn’t have a vision for the ottoman yet, but white legs sounded safe. Goodie and I went fabric shopping and purchased a beige and gold Moroccan design shower curtain (the price was ideal for the amount of fabric I needed–the oval table is 45″x28″). A plan was taking shape.

After the white paint on the legs was dry, I got into a distressing mode and began a little accent sanding. Accent sanding led to accent gold painting. My mind obviously feels very free and creative at 5 am.

Ready to cut the foam

I was so excited to begin the foam portion of the ottoman. I visited Joann’s for the 50% foam sale (take a look at foam prices and you will learn that 50% off is the only way to buy it). My original intention was to purchase 2” high density foam, but when I saw the 5” foam, I couldn’t resist. I used spray adhesive to attach the foam to the table before shaping the foam to match the table shape. A bread knife, less the two cuts on my finger, made easy work of cutting through the foam. I did make what I deem a fatal mistake when cutting the foam; while rounding the edge, I got off the perpendicular line and sliced the foam at a slight angle. Shaving off too much foam modified the beautiful oval shape. I was not pleased with myself.

Foam trimmed and batting is stapled

I put on my big girl panties and moved on from the foam cutting debacle. I flipped over the table and pulled the batting taut and began stapling. I love the staple gun! I repeated the same process for the fabric. I was patient while creating pleats around the edges.

I intend to avoid upholstery and foam for a bit.