Upholstered Ottomans

We knew the day we got pregnant, the coffee table was a goner. Babies move, crawl and get into pretty much everything. Sharp corners on furniture are a baby no-no. To replace the low-lying sharp corner coffee table, we looked into a lot of different options. Considering that we like to set the coffee table away from the main living room area while baby is out and about, we concluded that a traditional coffee table was out of the question.

I’ve always loved the look of upholstered ottomans. Even more, I love the idea of using a tray on top of an upholstered ottoman as a coffee table. In a house with a baby, ottomans that can be tucked away when guests depart is functional and stylish; the ever lasting goal of any well- decorated home. With an ottoman, our baby can be safe when he’s running around doing his “errands” around the house but when guests come over, we can entertain by adding more seating or have a place to set down drinks. After rearranging a few furniture pieces including our bookcases and accent chair closer to the living room window, we created just enough room to tuck a console table into the space. Upholstered ottomans can be tucked under this table. Then the search for ottomans began.

 

Courtesy of:

http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=ottomans+under+console&um=1&hl=en&sa=N&biw=1138&bih=521&tbm=isch&tbnid=DGburPeao0G3EM:&imgrefurl=http://harrietluce.blogspot.com/&docid=o9RrXNE36Vfx6M&w=238&h=320&ei=CRFYTsjgHZPXiALSmpyxCQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=161&vpy=151&dur=730&hovh=256&hovw=190&tx=172&ty=177&page=9&tbnh=180&tbnw=143&start=85&ndsp=10&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:85

A few weeks later, I came across two iron side table frames with no glass top. We picked them up and brought them home. At first, we considered reusing them as side tables in the guest bedroom but they were much too wide for such a small space.  

After some consideration, My hubbie and I brainstormed and came up with a plan to create an upholstered top for the frames. There was a basic design consisting of a ½ inch mdf board traced out for the shape of the frame  for the main surface.  

To keep it in place, we used two smaller strips of sturdy wood  for the lip that fit inside the frame. This lip was necessary to provide stability. We liked the worn pewter iron finish, so we just cleaned up the frame a bit and placed the board on top.  

Once the top was constructed, we added foam cut to the shape of the board. Finally the padded top got an eye catching animal print upholstery. Every room needs a little animal print. Don’t you think?

 The finished product is sturdy, stylish and uber functional. We love the curvy lines of the frame, they are a welcome change to the sleek lines of our mostly modern furniture.