Before and After: Ottoman

One of the many projects on my list was to cover this sexy blue jean ottoman:

Tell me how many of you want that sexy beast in your home! haha It was a $10 score from Savers. It is super light-weight and I really liked the shape and softness of it. It will be great as a seat for your bum or your feet. But really - blue jean? There was no way that blue jean was going to have a place in my living room. I had visions of a more sophisticated textile:

A rich, creamy suede. I am drooling just thinking about it. My only problem with this project was that I don't have any real experience with re-upholstery, so naturally, I did what any smart, capable, and crafty woman would do: I took it home to Nana. 

 

We literally just tossed the suede on top of the ottoman and started tucking and eventually stapling. Papa is very handy with a staple gun folks. I highly recommend using an electric staple-gun for these types of projects. I have done stuff with a manual one and it is just so much more efficient to have the power behind it.

We started by securing one side with a couple staples and then pulled it tight and stapled the side directly across. We did the long sides first because our ends were going to end up with some pleat-type things and we thought it would look better on the short sides.

Observe said pleats above.
I do need to throw it out there that I am no-where-near being a perfectionist. We made them all as even as possible without pulling out our hair. I think it does look pretty cool - even though it may not be perfect.

To finish off the bottom of the ottoman we cut a rectangle out of a bed-skirt that I had also gotten at Savers. This just gave it a cleaner finish.

Just for fun, I think you all should know I was wearing these shoes during this entire project. :)

And for the big reveal:

Ta-Da!!!!


You like??? I do! I will post some pics in the next week (or 2) of the whole living room, so you can see it in its new home and not on my grandparents' kitchen table :)