Hey Bay of Quinte! Catherine here, from Charcoal and Teak. I am obsessed with all things home décor and my super power is flipping furniture. I love hitting up the thrift stores around the Bay of Quinte and rescuing ugly, unwanted gems, otherwise destined for the dump. In today’s post, I’m going to show you how I took a $2 coffee table from St. Vincent de Paul and turned it into a chic ottoman.
As soon as I saw thiscoffee table at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop, on Coleman St. in Belleville, I knew it could be something amazing. I also knew that since it was in rough shape, it would be very inexpensive. For $2, how could I not buy it?
There were so many possibilities with this one, but because of the shape and size I thought it would be a great frame for a large ottoman. Here’s how I did it!
Materials:
thrift store coffee table
mattress topper
quilt batting
fabric
staple gun and staples
scissors
spray paint
Step 1 — The first thing I did was spray paint the base of the coffee table. I let the paint dry over night before starting the next steps.
Step 2 — I also peeled all the laminate off the sides. This wasn`t completely necessary, since I was covering it, but it was falling off so I decided to get rid of it.
Step 3 — Instead of using high density foam from a fabric store, which can be very expensive, I used a budget friendly mattress topper. Putting the bumpy side down I wrapped it around the coffee table.
Step 4 — I marked and cut out a square shape from each corner so the foam wouldn`t bunch.
Step 5 — Next, I covered the foam with the batting and flipped it over so I could staple them underneath.
Step 6 — The corners are always a bit tricky. I made sure the foam was tucked in nicely and stapled it once before wrapping the batting around and stapling it as well.
Step 7 — I stapled all around the base of the coffee table with several staples, then trimmed all the excess foam and batting. It is important to cut as close to the staples as possible so there is enough room to staple the fabric over top.
Step 8 — I then laid the fabric out on the floor and placed the coffee table on top.
Step 9 — Here`s where things got a little tricky. Because I was not sewing the fabric I had to figure out what to do with the corners. I decided to create a pleated look by folding the fabric in as if you were making a bed. It took some time and patience to get the corners looking right, while keeping the tight around the sides, but it paid off!
Step 10 — Just like the foam, be sure to cut as much of the excess fabric off as possible, so that it doesn`t hang down when it`s flipped over. A good pair of sewing scissors helps with this.
Step 11 — Flip it back over and voila! You have yourself a beautiful, glamorous looking upholstered ottoman.
I hope this project has inspired you to start searching some of our amazing thrift stores in hopes of finding your own diamond in the rough! — Catherine Coe of Charcoal and Teak
