What Is A Closet Without A Giant Pink Ottoman

Life has been so busy these days, but never too busy for a project. I only have a few more things left to tackle in the closet room. I checked my Master Project List (yes, I do have one of those..don't judge me) and decided to make an ottoman. All amazing closets have giant ottomans, why shouldn't mine? I've been debating on this for awhile now. Unlike most projects I didn't shop around first. I just decided that I wanted a big ottoman, and I wanted to make it myself. 

I've never actually built an ottoman before. However, I've built a padded bench, and a tufted headboard so I figured how hard could it be. I sketched out a design and my materials. I was going to go with a circle, but a rectangle just seemed more practical. For the tufted design I went with a simple diamond pattern. I wanted it to look a little more on the luxe side so I decided on more buttons.

I took a trip to Home Depot and picked up my supplies. A 2'x4' sheet of plywood, a few 8ft 1x2s, and a set of wooden table legs. It took me awhile to get started, but once I did it was a piece of cake. I marked out the diamond design on the plywood with a permanent marker, and then drilled holes to make openings for the buttons. Then I cut the 1x2s to create a border and extra support throughout the middle of the seat, making sure to stay clear of the holes.

The second piece was for the bottom base. I pondered weather to buy decorative legs or just cut pieces of wood. I wanted to be fancy, so I went with the nicer legs. I put everything together with wood glue, and let it all dry over night.

 Next up was to attach the legs to the bottom base. I let a friend borrow my drill so I had to go old school (well partially). I used my Dremel to create pilot holes into the wood, and then used a screwdriver to get the screws in. Nothing wrong with a little bit of good ole elbow grease...well sometimes. I however truly do enjoy tools with cords and battery packs, so I will definitely not be making a habit of this. 

I painted the whole bottom base black and let it dry. 

Now back over to the cushion. I took a trip out to Town Center to hit up the Craft Store Trifecta. For those of you who don't know what that is...it is a shopping area in where there is a Michaels, a JoAnns, and a Hobby Lobby all right next to each other. For me, it's like being in the midst of the Mothership. For this project I searched through JoAnns. They have the best assortment of sewing supplies. I got pink fabric, batting, upholstery buttons, and 3" foam. This is the moment when I realized making an ottoman may have been more expensive than buying one. This was all due to the 3" foam, which was pretty expensive at $49 a yard. (Don't worry I didn't actually pay that). However, my ottoman was going to be pink and super cool so it was worth it. Also kudos to JoAnns for letting you use multiple coupons. I saved like 40 bucks on all of my stuff.  

 

Once I had my supplies it was time to get to work. First the buttons. To create a tufted look you have to make buttons that are of the same fabric as the piece you are trying to create. Most upholstery buttons come with a kit. I cut out a piece of fabric and stuffed it into the plastic white mold. Then I put the main button piece inside with the fabric and stuff the excess fabric inside on top of that. Then take the cap and clamp it all together. 

Once I was done I had 28 buttons. It took me all night, but I passed the time away while catching up on Season 3 of Game Of Thrones. 

For my cushion, I propped up my base and positioned my foam, batting, and then fabric on top. All of the layers needed to be together in order to get one seamless piece. 

With the buttons done and the layers arranged it was time to start actually tufting. I went out and bought a long upholstery needle. The longest needle I had was only about 3 inches, and that just wasn't cutting it. I doubled up a piece of embroidery thread for strength and strung it through the needle. Starting from the bottom I picked a hole and pushed the needle straight up through the foam, the batting, and the fabric. Once at the top I put the string through the button and then pointed the needle back down through the hole I came up from. This was actually the hardest part. Somehow making a straight line through foam is not as easy as it sounds. Once I got the needle back through the bottom, I pulled down on both sides of the thread to create a pull in the fabric. With the leftover string I tied a knot around a pony bead to anchor it and keep the button tight. 

I repeated the process with the next hole. You always want to work outwards so that you have enough excess fabric for all of the tufts. 

2 down 26 to go. Lucky thing for me my best friend Fatima was coming in town for a visit. She is always talking about wanting to help out with a project (for the life of me I don't know why) so I figured this was as good a one as any. Tufting is difficult with just one person. When I did the headboard I used the wall, a marker, and my body weight to hold the buttons down while I tied them in place. 4 hands definitely makes it much easier. I repeated the process with each button. Once I got the button threaded in place, she pressed and held the button down while I tied the string around the bead from the bottom. It was so much easier than the last time. Thanks to my trusty assistant, this time we got all 28 buttons done before the end of weekend.

Once Fatima was gone I had to complete the rest of the ottoman myself. I wrapped the excess fabric around the seat and stapled it to the underside of the wood. 

Here's what it looks like from the bottom. 

Now, to attach the top and bottom pieces together. I want to be able to easily separate the 2 pieces if I ever need to.  So I gathered some scrap wood, and glued them down to the corners. 

I laid the two pieces together making sure to line up the sides and the corners. By this time I had my drill back. I used long wood screws to join the top and bottom pieces using the scrap blocks as leverage. 

With the pieces tightly secured I added the legs back on and flipped it over. I was so excited to see my handy work, and then I noticed that one of the buttons popped. I had to retie it. However, without my trusty assistant and the edges already being stapled, it was a complete pain. Once I was done though it was worth it. I could finally marvel in my newest TM.Original.

I love it! It's so fancy! It definitely makes the room feel a lot more like a luxe walk-in closet. It's also nice to finally have somewhere to sit and put my shoes on too. Fatima personally marvels in her handy work, and won't let me forget it. She insists that we should start a furniture company all of a sudden. The girl helps hold down a few buttons and now she's hooked. I guess that's how it starts. Me on the other hand, am totally okay with just making the one for now. There's several projects on the Master List that have to happen first. Like making my office actually look like the magnificent place it's suppose to be. Until then...It's on to the next project!