Easy storage ottoman makeover on a budget

No-sew reupholstery for an easy DIY storage ottoman makeover

Storage ottoman makeover before-after

In a family of five, the most useful items around the house often end up showing some wear and tear.

Several years ago I found a black faux leather storage ottoman on clearance at my local Target. Immediately I knew it would be super handy in our family room in front of the sofa.

Since then, we have used it as extra seating, a footrest, and a table for snacking, crafting, and playing games.  (It’s handy that it’s vinyl so it cleans up well between using it as a footrest and as a table for snacks!)  It has stored blankets that help make the family room cozy and even served as the base for forts that were made with those blankets.

That storage ottoman has been through a lot over the years! It was definitely starting to show how much we’ve used it. The bottom was still in good shape, even after everything we’ve put it through, but the edges of the material were fraying around the corners on the top lid.Storage ottoman makeover - before

When I couldn’t take the shabbiness any longer, I started looking for some material to recover the top. It was time to make it prettier with a storage ottoman makeover.

I was happy to spot some inexpensive black vinyl material (about $10 for half a yard) at Hobby Lobby that was perfect!  I knew the pattern of the material would give the ottoman a little extra wow factor on the top and coordinate nicely with the plain black vinyl on the sides.

Vinyl sometimes gets a bad rap, but it’s super handy with kids in the house since it’s durable and can be wiped down easily. I’ve never done any sewing with vinyl, though, so I was a little intimidated by the prospect of sewing a fitted top for the storage ottoman. The existing top had a seam along each of the top edges to create the fitted sides.

For a couple of months I kept trying to talk myself into sewing a new fitted top. Finally I decided to just get on with it and make the project easier with a no-sew design.

After dropping my kids off at school, I picked up some new batting (about $5) to go under the vinyl, refilled my upholstery stapler, pulled out my tools, and got ready to work on my storage ottoman makeover.

I quickly unscrewed the hinges and had the lid off the bench.  Then I realized that I had never examined the inside of the lid closely before.  There were a lot of little staples holding the interior liner in place.  I used a narrow screwdriver to pry them up and off.  Unfortunately I broke a lot of them and had to grab my pliers to pull out pieces.  I pulled them out as carefully as possible so I could reuse the liner material.  I figured that would help me line up the hinges to get everything reattached.

Once I got the liner fabric off and peeled the vinyl away, the real fun began. By that, I mean my little ottoman lid began raining pieces of foam everywhere. {How long have we had this thing anyway? Maybe longer than I thought, since it was a bit more worn than I expected inside.}Storage ottoman makeover

That was OK, though. Once I got it to stop shedding foam and cleaned up my floor a bit, I wrapped the top side in some fresh polyester batting, pulling it firmly and then stapling it in a few spots to hold it in place. storage ottoman makeover

Then I was ready to attach the new vinyl.  I put the material on the floor with the wrong side facing up and put the top of the ottoman over the vinyl so I could cut it to size. Since there is a pattern on the vinyl, I made sure it was lined up carefully so the pattern would look right on the finished product.

I trimmed around the vinyl carefully so I would have the proper amount of fabric to staple to the wood frame underneath. Then, starting in the middle on the long side without the holes for the hinges, I began stapling the material.

With the no-sew upholstery method, the key was to fold the material neatly at the corners to create a nice, finished look. At the first corner, I tried folding the material in various ways to create a nice envelope fold. Once I had the corner fold looking good, it was just a matter of repeating that fold in each corner.

I slowly made my way around the lid, stretching the material firmly, but not too tight, and stapling it onto the wood. I finished on the side of the lid with the holes for the hinges. I cut away material from those holes and stapled the vinyl carefully to make sure I would be able to get the hinges reattached.

Storage ottoman makeover

The envelope folds on the ends of this storage ottoman made this a no-sew project.

Then I pulled the liner material that I saved back in place and reattached it. With the layers of batting, vinyl, and lining, it was a bit thick and a tough job for my medium-duty upholstery stapler. I wished I had heavy-duty stapling power for that portion of the project, but I made it work.

Turning over the lid, I was so happy with the results of the new upholstery! It was time to reattach the lid to the bench and complete this makeover project. The end was in sight!

And that’s when I discovered that reattaching the lid was going to be the hardest part of my project. It took some work to get everything lined up and tighten the hinges onto the lid again. I got more than a little frustrated with that step, but finally I got the lid on and aligned correctly. Whew!

Storage ottoman makeover

My storage ottoman makeover is finished!

The new look was worth the work.  Even better?  I only spent about $15 on it for the vinyl material and the new batting that provides padding under the vinyl.

Now our storage ottoman is back at work in the family room.  The gold accents in the diamond pattern on the ottoman pick up the color in the throw pillows, and it fits right in!Storage ottoman makeover 2016

I’m so happy with this little storage ottoman makeover.

What DIY projects do you have planned for the new year?

I shared this storage ottoman makeover at some of these link parties.

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