Ottoman Revamp

July 14, 2018

If you have a furry companion with digestive issues like I do, you may perform an ottoman revamp pretty often. This is the number one place my little guy likes to sit, and it’s the number one place he likes to leave me hairball presents. Yayness. However, with the help of my trusty staple gun and watching many videos by my upholstery crush, Alo Upholstery & Interiors, I’ve become pretty good at recovering it quickly. I am by no means anywhere near his level of upholstery greatness, but I love the videos and have learned just enough to make me dangerous to the furniture in my house. As a matter of fact, it was his videos that taught me how to make and add welting to the thrift store chair I did a couple of years ago.

Anyway, the former coffee table/ottoman in my living room has undergone more than one ottoman revamp. This thing started out as a butt ugly coffee table that I took from my brother’s house and went to a butt ugly ottoman. No clue what what I was thinking with that first color. When I moved into my current house, I changed the color to white. What a great idea that was. Hairball stain central. And yea, that looks as nasty as it sounds. Eventually, I also painted the bottom with black chalky paint. That is getting a little beat up, but I think it adds to the character.

Over the years, I’ve gotten smarter and more proactive when I recover this thing. Fist, pattern is the way to go. This makes stains less noticeable in between recovering. Also, a regular black garbage bag under the exterior fabric protects the batting and foam from kitty presents and the occasional wine spillage (not me of course, I would never do anything that horrible to my wine). That way, I don’t have to replace everything every time.

Whenever I am at Joann Fabrics, I check the red tag section of the upholstery fabric for anything super cheap that might match my decor. If I see something, I grab a yard of it. That way I always have it on hand and can recover the thing at a moment’s notice. I picked up the fabric I used today a few weeks ago. I really wish I would have picked up three yards instead of one so I could make new pillows. I may take a run up there tonight and get some more if they still have it.

Also, having a great staple gun is key. I was using a manual one, but with the arthritis I have going on, one powered by an air compressor or an electric one is preferable. For this latest ottoman revamp, I purchased a new Stanley Electric Stapler/Nail Gun. It is yellow happiness in a plastic package.

This thing has an 8-foot cord, and plenty of power to go through the batting and a couple of layers of the super thick upholstery fabric. I’m no Alo, but I’ve gotten a lot better at corners over the years. No one ever sees the bottom, so I don’t worry about it being neat. I also don’t cover it, because that is more I have to take off when the main fabric gets yucky.

So, this is my latest fabric change. My color choices have improved along with the decorating you see in the background. It’s super bright in here today, so unfortunately the richness of the fabric isn’t that evident. I’ll try to post a few pictures to Instagram once the sun goes down and everything doesn’t look so washed out.