Recovering an Ottoman

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This was originally posted at Remodelaholic earlier this month.

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This summer, my sister and I each received a chair from our grandparents house and had the chairs reupholstered.  We wanted ottomans to go with the chairs and didn't want to spend a lot.  We found these ottomans online @ Sears on clearance for only $50 each!  When we had our chairs reupholstered, we had the upholster order extra yardage of the fabric we selected so that we would be able to recover the ottomans.  I recovered the ottomans using a no-sew method.  It was so simple and easy and I love how they turned out.  The key to this project if finding an ottoman with separate legs.  The one we bought is no longer available but here is a similar ottoman I found at online at Target.

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Supplies Needed:

- ottoman

- upholstery fabric

- staple gun & staples

- button covering kit

- upholstery needle

- tape measure

- upholstery thread

- buttons

- water soluble marking pen

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The ottoman arrived needing assembly which was perfect for what I wanted to do.

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See that leopard print?  It wasn't exactly what I was looking for but I liked the style and I especially liked the button tufting.

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You can find the upholstery I used here.
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After deciding on fabric, you will need to cut it to size.  Make sure to leave enough overlap on each side to staple securely to the back of your ottoman.

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If you are using a geometric pattern like I did, make sure you are careful about how the pattern will lay on the ottoman.  With my pattern, I thought it would be best to center the pattern.

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Now, use a staple gun to attach the fabric. 
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When doing this, I start with one staple on each of the four sides and then continue around.

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Continue stapling all around but don't staple near the corners.

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Here's my trick for clean, neat, corners. 

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Pull fabric up tight to corner and staple as shown in photo above.

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Then, fold fabric in until a straight edge is created. 

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Pull tight and staple.  I know that sounds confusing, but I promise that it's not!

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Once you are finished with all four corners, your ottoman will look like this:

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You will want to trim the fabric so that it doesn't hang down when your ottoman is finished.

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Here's how the front will look:

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See, that was easy!

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Now it's time to use the fabric button kit and cover the buttons.

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Button kits like this are such an easy way to add a professional detail to a project.
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 Now it's time to attach the buttons to the ottoman.  The first step is to determine where you want your buttons to be.  Use a tape measure and a water soluble marking pen to marl the locations.
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Cut a long length of upholstery thread and tie to button.  Thread both ends through upholstery needle.
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Push needle through from the front to the back.  Pull tightly.  At the back of the ottoman use a button to thread through.  Using a button allows you to secure the thread.  There is probably a better way to do this, but I sort of figured it out as I went along!
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Sorry for the poor picture, but here's the button on the back side:
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Continue until all buttons have been secured.
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I think the buttons really make this project!
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Attach the legs and you are finished!
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Here's the finished product:
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I used the same method to recover my sister's ottoman.  She selected a different upholstery and will be posting about it on her blog, A Little Ditty, sometime soon!
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