To me an ottoman is one of the friendliest looking pieces of furniture. If you take a closer look at this simple but functional furniture you’ll notice that there is an incredible variety of forms available. Round, square, rectangle, high, low, with legs or with wheels. One thing they have in common is the fact that, for such a relatively small piece of household, they are quite expensive.
So wouldn’t it be great if you could make an ottoman yourself? And of course there are very creative people who had that same idea and made stunning examples. And even better, they use discarded objects to create beautiful ottomans.
A wooden spool to create beautiful furniture
On my search for a DIY ottoman I came across a website called Design Sponge, a website worth visiting with great content. And there I saw this amazing ottoman by Shelly Leer. She is an Indianapolis | United States based designer, writer, upholsterer, maker and blogger. On her website Mod Home Ec you can find a fantastic collection of beautiful upholstered pieces like ottomans made out of a range of found fabrics and materials.
She used to create a round ottoman frame out of two pre-cut wooden circles. But the store where she always bought them stopped selling them so she needed to find another way to get these circles. For those of you who’ve ever tried to make a wooden circle know it takes some effort. And, in most cases it’s not perfectly round.
Shelly Leer:
“Weeks later, while roaming the store searching for an alternative, I discovered the empty electrical spools that are routinely discarded. Two perfectly cut round pieces of 5/8” plywood with a removable cardboard cylinder in the middle? Now we’re talking.”
And now on to the best part besides this project being about upcycling. Shelly wrote a very clearly outlined tutorial on how to create your own ottoman with a bit of carpentry. Don’t be scared by the carpentry bit because the tutorial shows you photos and text on how to do this. Main thing is to get your hands on a discarded wooden spool.
Photos © Shelly Leer
The tutorial describes creating the ottoman as a mid-level DIY project that could be completed in a weekend. Now you’re able to create your own stunning customized ottoman. All this for a fraction of the cost of what you would have to pay for an ottoman in a store. And one couldn’t tell the difference! All in all a great DIY upcycling project that will make you happy.
Design by Shelly Leer | Found on Design Sponge | Tutorial
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