That's why we've become homemakers, DIY-ers, builders, upholsters. Or in the most recent case, ottoman makers.
When we had started to pack up our stuff to move to Houston, we realized we had nothing to pack. Because we hadn't opened up any wedding gifts yet, they were still packed up and not used {turned out to be the smartest idea to not use our stuff until we moved... so much less stress and time} We also noticed we didn't have any furniture. None. Well..... no living room furniture at least. We had two beds and a set of bedroom furniture that we pretty much split up between both rooms. So we started looking for other pieces.
Then, Kyle had such a smart idea. He wanted to be a manly-man {his words exactly} and to build an ottoman. The thing that took the longest: figuring out the dimensions we wanted and that would fit into our apartment. Layne found fabric she wanted to make something in way before the idea to make the ottoman took place. So once Layne heard Kyle wanted to build it, she went straight over to the fabric store and bought some yardage. {In doing that she knew she sealed the deal that Kyle had to make something now or else we wasted money. Smart move by L}.
Kyle was stoked to start using all his tools he's been racking up since our wedding. He get's a new tool every christmas from Layne's parents {well, it's only been two Christmas' in a row, so maybe it's a coincidence, but we think it's a tradition. A good tradition we might add.} This year he used the awesome drill and circa saw he got last year. But he didn't have a palm sander, so he had to borrow Joe's, Layne's dad, for a while. Usually not a problem, but it was during the same time Joe was fixing up a piece of furniture for us and needed it as well. So it went back and forth between houses for a couple weeks. Finally our project was done so no more borrowing. Guess which tool he got that year for his Christmas present? Shouldn't have been a surprise. Joe was probably more excited because we don't have to borrow his sander anymore.
It was pretty chilly when we decided to start the building process. Kyle loved it, Layne on the otherhand did not {Kyle got to wear his flannel utility shirt, which is probably way he was so excited, which also in Kyle's eyes, is extremely burly shirt}.
The bones of the ottoman. Kyle did a great job building it. Definitely a solid piece of furniture. Heavy as crap. Layne can barely lift it by herself.
The finished product. We love how it turned out. This was Layne's first time covering something all by herself. So, not too bad for the first time, but there are some areas that could use a little more help. We covered it in high dense foam, so it's comfy, yet supportive {just like your favorite undies}. But for us, it's great and does the purpose of being an ottoman: let's us relax by putting our feet up and is a stable spot to hold our beers.
Layne loved the crazy colors and design of the fabric. Fits our lifestyle and design style perfectly. And it adds great color and texture to our apartment. It was so much fun building this together. We love finding old furniture and repurposing it. We've done a couple other projects and hopefully will share them with you, but we wish we had more to do! Hopefully Houston antique shops will have some great finds.
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