Here's the Before & After story of my $50 ottoman makeover!
I'm thrifty.
That's a nice way of describing what I really am: CHEAP.
I know, not exactly a secret. ;)
When I saw this X bench ottoman, I fell in love with it. But I did NOT fall in love with the price tag!
$200? I mean, really??
That would be a NO.
Then a few months ago, I was wandering through the clearance section in HomeGoods, and I stumbled across a hideous little ottoman. Even despite the awful fabric, and the cheap faux silver paint on the legs, I saw potential in it. I loved the size and scale, and the fact that it had the "X" bench legs like that expensive ottoman I saw online.
I flipped it over, and when I saw the red $49 clearance sticker, I practically ran to the check-out line.
It really wasn't that hard to give it a makeover. It took me less than 2 hours to do it from start to finish, and it only cost me $50!
Here's what I did:
Step 1: Disassemble the top upholstered cushion from the legs. Like any chair, there are usually 4-6 screws that screw the cushion in place.
Step 2: Spray paint the legs.
In this case, I chose a gold spray paint to get that trendy gilt look.
If you ever want to paint something a gold color, use Krylon's Metallic Brass spray paint. I have tried pretty much every can of spray paint on the market, and this is by far my favorite!
.....And it's only $3.95 at Home Depot or Lowes.
I know, whaaaaat??!?
I always keep cans of this in the house because I'm forever spray painting stuff gold. I had a half-used can in my basement, so essentially this was free.
Step 3: Upholster seat cushion with a fabric liner.
To cover up this hideous fabric, I needed to add a solid neutral liner to the cushion first. It's almost like adding a primer on top of dark walls before you paint them a lighter color.... you don't want the darker pattern to show through. I actually had some laying around from an old project, so this didn't cost me anything either.
Much better. Now you can't see that ridiculous fabric :)
Step 4: Upholster the seat cushion with the fabric of your choice.
Measure out your fabric, leaving enough room around the edges to wrap the fabric underneath the cushion (usually about 3-4 inches is enough depending on the thickness of your cushion).
I'm in a phase right now where I'm really into the Greek Key thing, so I fell in love with this green Greek Key fabric the moment I saw it. (Apparently other people did too, because this pattern is almost sold out in my Etsy shop!)
I got such a great deal on this fabric, and used such a small amount to cover the cushion, that it only ended up costing me around $1.50 worth of fabric.
Flip your fabric over, and laying the cushion face down on it, start to pull the fabric taught. Using your staple gun, secure the fabric in place.
I always start with the longest sides first, then do the shorter sides, and I save the corners for last. This helps prevent any wrinkles or bubbles, because I can always cover up imperfections when I get to the corners.
It's extremely important to pull the fabric VERY tightly around the corners in order to get a professional tailored look.
Step 5: Trim off any excess fabric that is hanging off where you stapled it.
At this point, you could always get super fancy and add a finishing liner to the bottom so you don't see any of these messy corners.
Obviously, I'm lazy, so I skipped that part.
Step 6: Re-attach the upholstered cushion to the spray painted legs, and step back and admire your finished product!
Ta da!
Another shot of the Before & After:
Gahhh that "Before" is B-A-D lol.
I'm using my refurbished $50 X bench in my newly redecorated craft room/smaller guest room, and I adore it!
I can use it a seat for my sewing table when I'm working on Etsy orders, and I especially love the fact that it slides neatly underneath when I'm done. Or, when we have guests, I can position it at the end of the guest bed where it looks equally cute.
I'm almost done with my little craft room redesign (so excited about it!), so I'll post about that soon!
