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Shabby Chic Ottoman Project

The project that has been looming in my mind for over a year - the shabby chic ottoman. I love love love shabby chic, it's the style that fits me best. Over a year ago I found the most awesome table at one of our local thrift stores for $10. The problem was that it didn't have a top. My husband said he could make a top, well...that just didn't happen. So I finally took it upon myself (and my son-in-law) to start the transformation. I spent many hours shopping yesterday for the perfect material and couldn't really find the perfect material. But then my mom and sister saved the project. My mom had a bedspread that belonged to my sister, the bedspread was headed for the thrift store donation pile until it landed with me. The colors are perfect, the material is quilted, and now I have a shabby chic ottoman. There were so many sites for this project but I wrote my own with the fewest steps possible, also I wanted it to be as inexpensive as possible.
This is my supply list:
  • 1 coffee table of your choice - thrift store find $10.
  • 1 piece of plywood or chip board (I used 3/8 inch thick but you could use 1/2 inch thick) mine was scrap wood, so it was free - yay!  I wanted the top to be 36 inches round but you can make it smaller or larger, and it doesn't have to be round, use what fits your table. (My son-in-law cut my circle due to my ban from power tools).
  • I did not use foam from the fabric store because it was so expensive and the real truth is that I was irritated with the customer service at our local fabric store, I really need to let that go I suppose. So thanks to my sister's quick thinking, I used an egg crate mattress topper. I got it on sale for $11. Mine was 1 1/2 inches thick and I had planned on doubling that because I wanted my top to be 3 inches thick, but by using the quilted material, I didn't double it in the end.
  • Glue of your choice, I used Gorilla glue.
  •  Stapler and scissors. We also used a hammer to make sure all of the staples were secure.
Steps:
  1. Lay foam on floor (or flat surface) and place the plywood on top of the foam. I cut the foam the size of the plywood circle with a scissor.
  2. Spread glue on plywood top.
  3. Lay foam on top of glued side, press down and turn it over so the foam is on the bottom to have some weight on it while it's drying. It took mine about 30 minutes to dry enough to work with it.
  4. Measure material for ottoman top and add about 4 inches to the size of the top. I added a little over 6 inches so I had to trim the excess after I was done stapling.
  5. Lay your material on the floor, right side of material on the floor, and place the wood top, foam side down, on the material.
  6. Staple and slightly pull your material so you don't have any bunches of material or gaps when you flip it over.
  7. Once you are done stapling, turn the top over and place on your table.
  8. I glued the top onto the table base, but you can also use wood screws to attach it. 
  9. Total project cost $21.
* Depending on your material choice and the thickness of your foam, you may also add quilt batting over your foam, then your material. You would do this between steps 4 and 5.
Shabby Chic cuteness!





Step 1 - My thrift store find!
Glue on the plywood top, then add foam
Foam glued and drying

Mom helping me with stapling





Place it on table base and glue
An hour later- ready to enjoy!


Love and peace,
~ Simply Tammi







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