Burlap Ottoman

Okay, confession time... I've stored this ottoman since last summer, waiting for a rainy day to tackle it.  Well, there's been plenty of rainy days since then, really, I was just scared of the upholstery.  Lately, I've been trying to get done some of my older projects to make way for all the new ones I will find with the upcoming garage sale season.  So, this stool got hauled out from the closet for me to experiment with. 

I admit, upholstery scares me halfway to france.  Which, is probably why I put it off so long.  But once I got going on it, it wasn't all that bad. 

This is what the stool started out like:

Once I ripped off all the old fabric, and took out all the staples, I was left with this...

Because the foam was a little squished, I added two layers of fleece before I stapled on two layers of burlap.  I used two layers of burlap because my fleeces was blue, and could be seen through if I only  used one layer. 

I then stapled on burlap to cover up the bottom... You can also see how I did the corners on this picture. 

I then hotglued on a piece of folded burlap around all four edges to cover up the mess on the sides.

Upholstery tacks were placed evenly around the top and bottom edges to give it a finished look.  After wrecking a half dozen tacks by hammering them in crooked, I asked my dad what to do, and he suggested holding them with a needle nosed plier.  Which worked perfectly... Thanks pops!

This picture shows how I measured between tacks!  My fingers worked great for that! And yes, I have a pink hammer :-)

After it was done, it still really needed something to make it standout. 

Hmm... This might look okay!  I printed out the numbers and cut them out to give me an idea of what they would like.  I really didn't want to wreck all my hard work. 

I made a stencil out of freezer paper to apply the numbers.

I crossed my fingers, hoping it worked out okay...

Yess!! But it still needed something more, so I decided to add the stripes.  They were just done with painter's tape. 

I took it up with me when we visited my parent's last week and my brother and I had a little photo session with it outside. 

He thought it was a little strange that I wanted to take pictures of a stool in the outdoors. 

But, he does lovely nature photography...


Go visit him... he would love it!
Masters Imaging

This stool was a lot of work, but I am really happy with the end result and am wishing I had a spot to
keep it. 

Linking to:
My Repurposed Life: Catch as Catch Can
The Shabby Nest: Frugal Friday
Miss Mustard Seed: Furniture Feature Friday
Freckled Laundry
Chic on a Shoestring
Homespun Happenings: Rustic Restorations
Finding Fabulous
Five Days...Five Ways
Classy Clutter
Funky Junk Interiors
My 1929 Charmer 
Coastal Charm: Nifty Thrifty Tuesday
Primitive & Proper: POWW
Southern Lovely: Show & Share
The 36th Avenue