At 9:30 pm last Thursday night as my husband and I are both trying to lie down on our sectional and having a silent battle over where to each put our legs I had an epiphony.  We needed an ottoman. 

The next morning after dropping Ezra off at school I purused a few furniture stores in town looking for a pretty yet functional ottoman that was not too large.  I found monstrosities.  Although they were pretty they were heavy and large and the smallest price tag I found was $299.  That was about $250 more than I wanted to spend.  I checked at Target and found small ones that would have worked but seemed borning and to be honest not only a bit too small but sort of chintsy looking. (is that a word?).

My search then turned online.  Where I fell upon these pretties at Horchow.  So pretty but soooo expensive!  The top one in animal print is $2000!  The second one is $600!  So modern and fun though.

I felt defeated, but I was determined to fix our relaxation situation, or should I say nonrelaxation situation.  I found a How To on Better Homes and Gardens site, but the size seemed a bit large still and I wanted something a bit simpler.  So I made my own directions, or I guess I should say by trial and error I figured it out. 

Here is how I began. 

1 piece of plywood (however large you would like your ottoman to be) make sure it is at least 1/2 inch thick to it can hold some weight

1 smaller piece cut 6 inches in on all sides from the larger piece

1 4×4 post cut into 15inch lengths (the guy at Home Depot was happy to cut it for me)

Screws and a drill- 5 one inch screws and 4 longer ones to attach the legs

1/2 yard fabric (home decorator weight or upholstery weight= kinda thick)

1 roll of foam from the craft store

1 roll of batting from craft store

First you cut your foam roll in lengths to lay over the top of the larger piece of wood.  Lay one each direction so all edges are covered. Staple down with a staple gun.

 Then do the same thing with the batting and fabric this time making sure that they hang over the underside by approximately 6 inches.  This will ensure that it is sealed when you put your second piece of wood on the bottom.

Spray paint your 4×4 pieces a color of your choosing.  These will be the legs.  Screw then onto the smaller piece of wood. 

Take the smaller piece of wood and screw it with 1 inch screws to the bottom part of the ottoman.  This will cover the edges of your fabric and batting.

This ottoman is just the right size.  It is large enough for two people to use, but light enough to move easily with out dragging it.

The best part is that if you get tired of the pattern you simply have to unscrew the bottom layer of wood.  Put on new fabric and reattach the bottom. 

Here is the cost breakdown:

Wood top and bottom- $12

4×4- $9

Batting and Foam- $12

Fabric- $8

Spray Paint- $3

Total for a simple and stylish ottoman-$44

My husband thinks Iam so sweet because built this for him to put his feet on, really it was quite selfish.  I wanted to couch to myself.  Hehe.

PS: Did you see my fun new entertainment center in the background?  More on that tomorrow!