Coffee Table To Ottoman Magic

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Today’s post is a blog bucket list post. One of those projects I’ve had in my brain for years but finally had the space and the motivation to finish!!  Until Louisa’s a little bit older, Martha has one giant room to herself and I thought this repurposed ottoman might be fun for her in there. (To refresh your memory, here’s the “before” version of our new home’s tour.)

Turn a basic coffee table into an upholstered ottoman.

I found this table on Craigslist a while back. (One piece at a time… clearing out the garage!)  I was all set just to staple the fabric along the edge and cover with piping or decorative nailheads or something, until I realized that I could unscrew the top of this bad boy. Even better!

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Turn a basic coffee table into an upholstered ottoman.

The stain wasn’t my favorite color, but… liked the idea of a wood finish (versus painting it).  Enter my palm sander, stage right.  Wanna know how your hand feels after sanding down a coffee table base? Buzzy.  When it comes to refinishing, I’m lazy… so I simply sanded off the current stain and left it alone. No top coat, no wax, no oil… just the pretty bare wood. (Don’t tell anyone, but I LOVE it!)

Turn a basic coffee table into an upholstered ottoman.

I must have had the etsy Gods looking down on me when I plotted for this project because there was PLENTY of kantha cloth online a few months ago. Now? NONE. It’s so mysterious. I even struggled to find a picture online just to show you what the heck kantha cloth is…  Here’s a close up of mine… it’s a vibrant and beautiful cloth from India and I’ve always loved it.

Turn a basic coffee table into an upholstered ottoman.

For the ottoman itself, I used 3″ foam (picked up from some secret awesome place for cheap from my girl Cija of Flea Market Flip fame and fortune).  I simply cut it to fit, held it in place with some spray adhesive and then placed a piece of felt over the seam where the two pieces of foam met.  If I had a clue where my stash of batting ended up after the move, I probably would have used that instead…

Turn a basic coffee table into an upholstered ottoman.

Turn a basic coffee table into an upholstered ottoman.

It’s hard to tell from the pictures (and I was too eager to finish to take pictures), but I actually sewed the kantha into a modified slipcover to fit over the foam topper.  My friend Dena shared this tip with me for sewing nice and tidy corners!  With the foam in place, I simple pulled the cover over the foam and stapled it along the bottom side of the coffee table topper… careful as always to pull it tight and even.

Turn a basic coffee table into an upholstered ottoman.

The topper screwed right back onto the base and we hauled this beauty up to its new home. I love the eclectic colors of it and the texture of the kantha with the wood.

Turn a basic coffee table into an upholstered ottoman.

Turn a basic coffee table into an upholstered ottoman.

Martha’s delighted to have something I made just for her and will randomly skitter upstairs to take a peek.  Can’t say that I blame her as I love catching a glimpse of  this makeover whenever I go past her room.  Now I kinda want to upholster everything…

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Turn a basic coffee table into an upholstered ottoman.

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6 Comments

  1. Woooooow!!! beautiful!!
    By the way, can you tell me the wall color?
    Thank you so much
    Keep up the good work!!
    Manon 🙂

    1. Hi Manon, You know… I can’t! We just moved into this house 2 months ago so all the paint colors are whatever the previous owner did. I actually think these walls are pretty close to white and the ceiling is a pale blue. But that’s not how they look on the pictures at ALL. Sorry not to be any help! I’m a little nervous for how I’m going to fill nail holes since I don’t have the paint to patch over with. :/