This post may include affiliate links to find a product mentioned. See my full Disclosure Policy.
I found this great ottoman at one of my thrift store haunts, it just had great bones and for a whopping $5 I couldn’t resist! ! I researched a lot of different ways to go about this and since I had never attempted an upholstery job before.
I found out there are lots of difficult ways to go about this process. No wonder furniture is so expensive. So, I opted for my own easy version and it turned out great!
Monogram Burlap Ottoman
Supplies:
- Footstool/ottoman
- 1 yard of burlap fabric
- 5 packs of 25, Hillman Furniture Nails in Bronze (Lowes)
- Hot glue gun w/glue for fabric and wood
- Hammer
- Flat head screwdriver
- Ruler
- Acrylic paint in brown, black and bronze
- Rotary cutter & mat
- X-Acto knife/scissors
- Plain sheet of cardstock paper
- Spray adhesive
- Paint brush and sponges for stencils.
Instructions:
This particular ottoman did not have screws underneath to remove the cover, replace the fabric and just staple gun it down like chairs do.
So I loosened the fabric all the way around with a hammer and flat head screw driver. The fabric cover was sewn to fit this ottoman and since I have a love/hate relationship with my sewing machine, I decided on hot glue! Much faster with less headache!
I was going to just toss the original cover, but underneath it was a cushion and a lot of loose batting. I was afraid without the cover the batting would bunch up and show through under the Burlap.
I went with leaving it on to keep the cushion & batting in tact and just cover the old covering. When I pulled the edges of the cover up there were these super sharp little nails on a cardboard strip rolled into the edges of the fabric, similar to carpet nails, holding the cover on. I removed them and the cardboard so I would not cause severe injury to myself.
Place your burlap fabric over the top and measure about 3-4 inches beyond the edge of the cover and wood you are going to glue to. Cut the fabric with a rotary cutter and drape evenly over ottoman.
Start at one end pull lightly and tuck in the fabric even with the edge of the cover and glue down tight. Work your way around leaving the corners for last.
When you get to the corners fold and tuck them tightly and as neat as you can get them.
Glue them down inside the folds on the outside so they will not bulge out when finished.
This is what it should look like when folded and glued.
Use the bronze furniture nails and hammer them in all the way around. This takes a few tries to get them hammered in straight. Once you get the hang of it, the process will go faster.
I used a ruler in the beginning to get my spacing right. If you get them uneven just pull it out and try again.
{Hint: Buy extra nails you will need them}! This helps to hold down the fabric and the glue. If you do not like this look you could leave them off, as long as you used enough glue it should be fine.
I think this idea came out great! But when I was finished it looked a little… well, plain. I didn’t have one of those popular french stencils on hand so I decided to make my own. I opted for easy, using just a simple letter monogram stencil made with an ink jet printer.
Pull up a Word Document and manually change the font size to 700. I Pick your font and print it out. Take a X-acto knife and cute out the letter. Spray the back of the paper with spray adhesive and center it on the fabric.
I mixed three colors of paint and tried them out to see which one I liked the best for the shade of Burlap I chose. Then I took a paint brush and painted the thick letter areas and used a sponge to lightly dab the paint on the thin areas and edges.
My paper was starting to soak up the paint and wrinkle so I removed it right away so it would not bleed the paint outside the stencil. You can try the similar freezer paper method, I know some other crafters do. For me regular copy paper worked just fine, as long as you remove it right away.
And that’s how it was done! Up-doing this ottoman was so much easier than I thought! I can’t wait to do this on something else!!!
Check out more of my Home Decor Projects~
Gallery Wall & Home Decor Gallery
This is great!!! I just got rid of an ottoman almost exactly like this one…after seeing this I wish I would of kept it!
~~~rhonda~~~
“Ottoman Upholstery Up-do! |” was a very great blog, .
I hope you keep writing and I will keep browsing! I appreciate it ,Junior
I must try this! 🙂
Wow, this is BEAUTIFUL! Great work.
I just started following (found you via pincushion creations)…would love if you’d check out my blog and consider following back!
Also, could you tell me how you got that linky followers widget rather than the one with all the little pictures? I like it 🙂
-Alisha @ SnugasaBugBaby.com
Love this…just bought some burlap and am eyeing my ottoman in my living room as I write this. It really doesn’t match… I like the whole – made i a day- and doing it the easy way – concept, that’s how I operate.
Love this!! You did a great job! We are your newest follower!
Thanks for linking this up! We’re starting a new party today and look forward to seeing your entry/ies there. And, come have a look what the others have made. Good stuff!! http://www.finecraftguild.com/party/
please (smiles):
add our party logo + link
to your linked-up posts.
thank you so much in advance
Have a happy day, Rose
So pretty! Thanks for sharing at my party 🙂
Super awesome redo! Thanks for sharing at the Crazy Cute party! 😀
Great tutorial, thanks!
Turned out great! I definitely want to tackle a project like this one day. Stopping by from strut your stuff saturday.
It turned out great….I love anything with intitials!! I also wanted to let you know that I’m hosting my first giveaway for a free My Memories digital scrapbooking program, If your interested you can enter until Saturday!
Sally
http://loveofhomes.blogspot.com/2012/01/my-memories-digital-scrapbook-give-way.html
You did a great job with the new upholstery. Adding the painted letter gave it that creative edge.
Have a great day!
Very cute! So much better than the original! Thanks for sharing this at What’s In The Gunny Sack!
Thank you for sharing your lovely project at Potpourri Friday!
Oh My Gosh this is soooo cool!
looooove burlap, monograms, and nailhead! Perfect!! 🙂
I featured this on my blog today:
http://christinasadventures.com/2012/01/sunday-features-56.html
And I pinned it too:
http://pinterest.com/christinasadven/20-below-features/
loving it.
visiting via brambleberry cottage and invite you to my giveaway here:
http://hellolovelyinc.blogspot.com/2012/01/something-old-something-new-giveaway.html
smiles to you.
michele
Love it! Can you mail it to me? It goes with my living room, and our last name is P! Looks great!
Looks great…I have a couple of upholstery patiently waiting for me. Guess I’d better go for it 🙂 Laurel
This turned out beautiful! I wasn’t sure how you were going to fold the edges under, but your pictures make it look easy to do. The upholstery nails make it look so professional! I’m completely inspired. Your newest follower. I’d love for you to come check out sunnyvanilla.blogspot.com!
I love it!! now I need to find me an ottoman to transform 🙂
Great job on your Thrift Store ottoman. I too like to up-cycle things. The letter was a wonderful addition. Warmly, Linda
Love!! The burlap and monogram add such a charming and expensive touch!! Awesome job! I would love for you to come share tomorrow over at Passionatelyperfect.com!!
ooooo love me a good redo with burlap!! great job!
Hi Kim, your stool is just lovely. I’m stopping by from One Stop Shoppe’s Link Party. I’m pinning this and now following. If you get a chance, please stop by my blog and say hi : ) http://www.deannario.com
~ Deanna
This is gorgeous!! I love monograms and burlap! You did a really great job. I have a party on Fridays and I would love if you linked up!
http://daysofchalkandchocolate.blogspot.com/2012/01/latest-and-greatest-friday-14.html
This looks great. What a find.I love your choice of materials and that you took it one step further with the monogram! Great job!
SO classic, I love it. Thanks for linking up to Refresh Your Nest Friday!
Beautiful! I love all things burlap and monograms! Great project : )
Wow! I’m impressed-great job-looks professional to me-I love the burlap and monogram-have a chair in mind to try this with.
I love your footstool. I have a hope chest I am going to cover and do something like that. Thank you for the idea.
Totally my style! Great job; I think you need to move it to my house.
LOVE IT! first time here..found you through the pinning and singing..and so glad I did!
Fantastic!
Smiles~
Cat
So lovely, and the monogram is a perfect touch!
I am a big fan of burlap and it looks great on that ottoman!
Wow, great project! I found you on funky junk blog party and I love your blog…I am your newest follower! Thanks for sharing! Tabitha @ Simplyhomecents.blogspot.com
Ok, so that is a great tutorial, and I am definitely going to try it now – thanks so much for the gift of courage! 😀
I have a love for natural elements in my home and burlap is always one of my go to fabrics. Your ottoman turned out just beautiful. Thanks for sharing.
What a great re-do! I love the burlap and the buttons on the side are perfect. Great job!
Now this is stinkin’ cute! I’m going to have to try this out! I’m a new blogger and now a new follower!
Wow! You’ve given me the bravery to try my hand at upholstery! Your ottoman turned out perfectly and I love the little “P.”
Very nice! Burlap is just awesome, isn’t it? You did a great job upholstering and the diy stencile came out great too.
Love it, planning on making some pillows with burlap and writing.
This looks great! Thanks for linking up at Fabulous Friday! Have a great weekend.
What a gorgeous project! I love something quick like that, makes me feel like I am super woman
🙂
Great blog, happy follower through pinterest now and google+
Hope you find time to check-out my piece of blogland.
Fabulous! You gave the ottoman a whole new life! The monogram and bronze furniture nails are great details!
WOW–this is an amazing revamp! Great job.
just beautiful! wow!
adorable stool great Job thanks for stopping by following you back
http://www.everydayproductsandmore.com/
What a cool stool and such a great job with great patience!
I love with this!