These step by step photos will show you how to reupholster a storage ottoman the quick and easy way! Breathe new life into an old ottoman with new fabric! This two hour project is great for beginners. This post contains affiliate links.
This is the story of a beautiful ottoman who began its life like this…
We’ve had this ottoman for six years and it’s held up amazingly well until the hinges started acting up. The lid would randomly spring open or fall to the side with the slightest touch. That’s when I started to think that a brand new ottoman sounded really nice. And curbing this one sounded even nicer. After reupholstering my grandma’s chair I vowed I would never tackle anything like that again, but once I started examining how this ottoman was put together I realized that this was going to be a piece of cake compared to that confounded swivel chair!
And it might even save me some money vs. purchasing a new one. So I’ll go ahead and share yet another “How to Reupholster” project with any of you who might be feeling as ambitious as I was!
How To Reupholster a Storage Ottoman
The first thing to do is examine how it was put together and find a good starting place to strip it down. I began by removing all of the hardware and screws. The lining was in great shape so I saved it. It had all of the holes from the screws which would make it easy to line everything up later! I removed the fabric from the bottom of section of the ottoman by pulling the staples out and also saved the foam since it was in great shape. I decided to not deal with sewing a new cushion for the seat and just reupholstered over the existing fabric.
The seat was super easy. I laid it on top of my fabric and cut around it leaving about 6″ on each side to fold over and around to the other side. Then I tucked the corners in to create a finished look. You could definitely sew a nice cover, but this took about 10 minutes to finish. Sewing would have taken much longer.
The bottom only had fabric around the sides. The underside of the ottoman was actually just plywood and lining. So I cut a long strip of fabric (using the old fabric as a pattern piece and adding a few inches on both sides for wiggle room) and wrapped it around the sides of my box (inside out) and pinned it where it met up. (pic 1)
That was the only thing I sewed for this whole project. Just a quick seam. Then I turned it right side out and slipped it back onto the ottoman. It fit nice and snug, perfect! I lined up my sewing seam with one of the corners so that you couldn’t really see it. (pic 2)
Then I stapled the fabric to the under side of the ottoman (pic 3) and then flipped it over and finished around the top. (pic 4)
Before adding the hardware I took it out to the garage and scotch guarded the heck out of both pieces. With 4 kiddos and a dog, that was a must.
All that was left to do now was put it back together! I started by stapling the lining back into place. It gave it a nice finished look. Then I attached the hardware and touched up some scratches with a furniture marker.
A 22-hourproject that set me back 1 can of Scotch Guard and $25 in fabric. I added a new screw to the hinge and it works perfectly once again. I am so glad that I decided to breathe some new life into this instead of just buying a new one. Sometimes it doesn’t seem like it is worth the time and energy, but this DIY project definitely was.
It adds so much color into our living room. Here is a quick comparison shot…
Ahh, so much better! As you can see, it doesn’t take much to learn how to reupholster a basic furniture piece like an ottoman or chair (with the exception of a cushioned swivel chair or recliner, ha!). Just think of all of the possibilities!
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Welcome! I'm Brandy, mother to 5 darling kiddos and a cute black lab named Toby. My husband is in the Coast Guard so we've lived all over the place, turning each house into a home. I love baking, sewing, making cute things with my kids, and sharing what I've learned with all of you!
This looks great! You are so very creative.
Thank You!
Wow! It’s such a beautiful transformation, and for only scotch guard and fabric, totally worth it! I’m getting ready to reupholster a sofa, I hope it looks as good when I am done.
Hi Brandy, What a great save! Love the new fabric! Well done! Blessings, Janet
Hi Brandy! Love love love it! I have an ottoman in my boys room that is begging for this! The Scotch Guard: Brilliant! I have 4 too so it’s a must!! Thanks again!
This looks so pretty! Thanks for sharing at Creative Ways Link Party.
Love the result of this project! You made it look so easy through the awesome tutorial too! … btw … love the name of this blog as well 😉 If you would like to join in one more party I host Making Broken Beautiful every Thursday thru Sunday and the party has just begun. I’d love it if you’d come and help inspire! You do lovely work! I hope you have an amazing day!
Smiles!
Terry
The Curator’s Collection & Making Broken Beautiful
It’s nearly the end of 2024, and we’re moving. Decision time as we downsize, so, after seeing your tutorial for reupholstering a storage ottoman, my faux leather one is coming with us! Thank you.
-Pat
Awesome! It’s nice when we can re-use what we have!
Love the fabric you chose, great tutorial!
You did a beautiful job. Thanks for giving us such great instructions and pictures.
This turned out so great!
I’d love for you to share it with my Recipe and Crafts Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/pluckyrecipescraftstips/
Thanks for joining Cooking and Crafting with J & J!
Loved it!! I have an old ottoman in the basement that I have wanted to recover and was stumped on how to wrap the sides..now I Know! Beautiful job! Pinning right now!! Thank you for sharing your wonderful creativity with us at Friday Favorites! Please join us again…and we would love to see you at our Wonderful Wednesday Link Party too, every Tuesday at 4PM! Hugs- Christine at Must Love Home
Brandy this turned out beautiful. I really like your choice of fabirc. And yes it’s very important to have scotch guard with so many little ones running around. I also have four but didn’t have the scotch guard so you can imagine what went on in my house. I am hosting a new link party called Sweet Inspiration. We welcome all types of blog posts and would love to have you join us. It runs Friday till Tuesday.
Brandi it looks beautiful, I love to repurpose items in my home too. Great DIY!
Brandy, I Loved your project!! What an amazing professional job you did!! You have been Pinned, Tweeted and Posted to facebook! Your awesome post will be featured this week at the Friday Favorites Link Party. The party goes LIVE on Thursdays at 7PM at mustlovehome.com I hope to see your there! Hugs – Christine at Must Love Home
Thank you, Christine!
What a beautiful job you did on this makeover Brandy! I absolutely love the fabric you chose… esp. since blue is my favourite colour 😉 Thanks so much of linking this up to our Bewitchin’ Projects Block Party last week! Hugs, Lisa
Love the tutorial. I am going to give it a try – maybe even this afternoon. There was some weird text in there where you were meaning to say ‘Can hardly” like a weird like you didn’t put in.
Ericka, thank you for letting me know. It appears as though my site was hacked. I let my tech guy know this morning as soon as I saw your comment! I appreciate you taking the time to not only comment, but to let me know that something looked fishy!
Hey! Thanks for this tutorial! I’m looking to do the same for my ottoman that’s the same size! How many yards of fabric did you have to buy?
Hi Jenna! I honestly can’t remember! I want to say that I bought 3 yards and had a bit of extra left, but I think I must have checked out as a “guest” on Fabric.com because my order doesn’t show up in my account. I’m sorry!
I’m a bit late to post here I think, but I am about to try to re-upolster an ottoman (just a top) to use as a dog bed. I have never done any sewing whatsoever, except maybe when I was a child at summer camp. Anyhow, I am hoping to do this without sewing and also I will definitely need new filler.
Any other tips or warnings before I start would be greatly appreciated
Thanks,
-7 years late, Dan