Table turned into Ottoman and New Accessories

UPDATE:
     Well, I found the lost hardware and here the ottoman is with it's hardware, all buffed up.  I also found a perfect rug for a killer price to help define and ground the space.  The blues, greens and touches of orange tie all the fabrics together perfectly. Yeah!

ORIGINAL POST:

Here's a long post about how and why I turned an old coffee table into this ottoman:

It was time to replace our couches and I had finally saved up enough money from the furniture I've been refinishing and selling.  I looked just about everywhere and ended up with a set from Ashley.  However, I ended up ordering them through an online distributor.  They go directly to the Ashley Factory and with being based out of Oregon, I didn't have to pay any sales tax.  Plus, shipping was free.  I ended up saving over $300 doing it this way!  I'd highly recommend looking online.

I found the perfect fabric from Waverly.  It had the cooler blue tones I wanted to bring into the room, yet had my burnt orange like in the curtains and greens to match the adjoining dining room. I found it at my new favorite fabric store, Loomcraft.  If you live in the Chicago area, you must RUN, not walk to check it out!  I managed to hit it on a 50% everything day!  The selection is wondeful and they have a great remnant room full of great fabrics, almost all under $5 a yard! 

I don't have the best light today, but here's the online shot of it.  It's called Olana Oxf Bay Leaf.

I made drapes for my kitchen slider out of it

and then made a few pillows for the couches (can I just say how horribly cheap the pillows were that came with the couches?  Awful.)  Within a day of buying the fabric, I changed out those cheap pillows with nice feather pillows (I will never go back to polyfil pillows again. Feather pillows fluff up and retain their shape so much better and stay classy looking! I've even made my own feather pillow forms by buying a King size pillow at Walmart and making about 4-5 pillows out of each one! The cheapest, but messiest way to get feather throw pillows!) I have another coordinating fabric to make another set of pillows for the couch.  I just haven't gotten to that yet.

So, with new couches and the fabric to go off, I needed to replace my "too-contemporary" ottomans. I found a nice coffee table with brass accents and nice caster feet.  I found it at a thrift shop for all of $7.

While solid, the top was horribly water stained and the veneer surface didn't make it a good candidate for restaining.  I gave it a couple of coats of ASCP in Old White, roughed up the edges and applied a couple coats of wax. To turn it into an ottoman, I bought some 3" foam (use a discount coupon because it's expensive stuff.) I had a piece of wood cut to the size of the table top. I then glued the foam to the plywood.

Then, I made a box cushion cover out of a gorgeous blue upholstery fabric with a nice greek key weave to it.  I added welting to help keep the box shape.  I then pulled it over the foam and wood and stapled it on the underside.

To complete the box cushion look, I then stapled more welting.

The top is then screwed to the top of the coffee table from the under side of the table.

The drawer is still missing it's hardware (misplaced by my 4-year old and we're still looking for it! ughhh!) 

I painted it old white to lighten the room up a bit and to match the buffet I redid earlier.

I'm still a bit unsure if I should have gone with a narrower foam or not.  What do you think?

I'm slowly pulling the room together with two vintage travel posters (that have absolutely perfect colors) above the sconce/lanterns and an architectural piece above the TV armoire.

Above the buffet I refinished, I found 3 vintage watercolors at a garage sale for $4 each!

I love the vibrant colors and vintage feel these add to the room.  The accent chairs in this room are up next for a fabric redo on their cushions.  It's amazing how it all kind of snowballs...

What do you think so far? Should I make the foam thinner? Maybe an area rug to ground the space? I like it so far, but it's not quite "finished" (is is EVER?!haha)

This week, I'm Linking up to:

Thrifty Decor Chick Before and After

Shades of Amber Chalk Paint Party

Miss Mustard Seed Furniture Friday

Finding Fabulous Frugalicious Friday

Internet Inspirations

It's been a while since I've posted about some fun ideas I've seen around Blogland.  My files are filling up with so many amazing ideas and I need to share:

Anythingology

This creative lady has recycled lanterns with fresh paint and created amazing fixtures for a fraction of the new cost. Go see what she's done!

First off, if I had such a hallway I'm be in heaven.  But if I had a hallway AND these amazing bookshelves, I think my heart might not be able to handle it!  I think I will always be remembering this idea of combining what could be a boring hallway into a library/showstopper.  Amazing.

 These cabinets just take my breath away. Big, oversized china cabinets are to be had for very little on craigslist right now if you're willing to freshen them up a bit with paint.  I love the bold use of color in these rooms.  How about the stunning blue inside the black or the white contrasting with the gray? Wow!

I don't usually make many Christmas crafts, but I love this wooden star. The glass knob for the center is just perfect.  I might just be patient enough to try making one.

All Things Thrifty

See those frames on the top left and lower right? Well, they're not frames.  They're actually chair backs!  Cool, huh?  Now I'm on the lookout for cheap, broken-down, old chairs to turn into gorgeous frames like this.

I'm not really a ruffle kind of girl, but my eye was drawn to the boxpleats on this charming tablecloth. Love it!

I Love these collections of nursery/girl's rooms.

Pink, Taupe and touches of Navy!  Wow, love this combination!

Don't let that flat screen take center stage.  I love how this one has been blended into a gallery wall. This is so easy to do!

My own personal days of a nursery are over, but I am in love with this wall treatment.  A chinoiserie pattern has been painted in white on a pale, gray background and accented with pale pink and blue.  Just gorgeous.  I'd even do this type of wall in a dining room in these subtler colors than the typical bold, rich chinoiserie colors.

There is a lot that I love about this room. I never feel like I have enough wall space for all the art I'd love to have.  I love how that didn't stop the designer here.  Art is layered, above and below the wainscoting and even on the floor. More pieces decorate the bookshelf cabinet and even ON the cabinet.  I also love the books stacked under the sofa table. A living room has taken on a cozy, den or library feeling while remaining light and comfortable.  I just want to curl up on that couch and read!

Another example of what could be a boring stairwell turned stunning by a combination of the horizontal planking, the art grouping and the stunning light fixture!

In My Own Style

Want that layered look to your gallery walls that you see in Pottery Barn?  This blogger shows how to do it yourself, as seen with this arrangement of mirrors.

I just love gallery walls and I love the variety and fun you can have with them.  Some love the symmetrical, some the randomness. I love this for how unique it is!  Perfect for a low-ceilinged hallway!

If only I still needed a kids playroom/craft room!  I love this industrial-style room with the school chairs and stainless-topped table. Of course, I'd HAVE to have those metal bins and that HUGE bulletin board...

via honey and fitz

I might just have to do one of these Ombre dressers!  Darling.

Pottery Barn

How about taking those "dime-a-dozen" oak frames found at Goodwill and stain them with dark walnut and mat them with burlap to achieve this look.

Restoration Hardware

I was following a guy on the interstate the other day that had a pair of red corbels probably the size of these in his truck.  Oh, how I wanted to pull that guy over and insist he give me them!!! I'd love an office desk like this or get rid of the run-of-the-mill kitchen desk and do something like this! 

Okay, we're seeing these book page wreaths everywhere around the internet.  I actually don't like most of them.  I did find three that I really like:

Karen Blackburn

She varies her rolling method of the paper and uses black ink on the edges. I like that it's full, yet not perfectly round, with pieces sticking out in a more natural way.

Lovely etc.

I like the leaves of this one!

A little Bite of Everything

What about a DIY Quatrefoil rug for a fraction of the price of a store-bought one? This gal shows you how.
I've always been hesitant to make one because I know these IKEA ones are the thinner kind that can slide all over.  Well, I'm not afraid anymore.  Look at this idea of how to give yourself a non-slip backing:

via Loving Your Space You just add lines of acrylic caulk, let it dry and wowser, no-slip!  I'm anxious to try is sometime.

Well, that better be it for now.  I have way more than I thought.  I hope you were inspired and found a project or two to make your house YOU!

Piano Bench turned Coffee Table

Thank you, thank you Annie Sloan Chalk Paint!  Once again, you've turned a shy,hidden and neglected beauty into a Star.  This time your color "Aubusson Blue" had the magic touch.

Imagine an old piano bench with no finish left on it and the laminate savagely torn from the lid. Well, that's the before (I hope you have a good imagination because I forgot to take a before photo!  My eagerness to start the makeover seems to freeze my brain from remembering a before shot!) It was a larger than normal bench, so I knew it would make an awesome coffee table.  The whole thing was solid and the top had enough "character" (aka "damage") to work with this vintage style.

  Anyway, her she is:

Just look at these legs!  Aren't they classic?  This is what drew me to the bench in the first place.  I knew Chalk paint was just the thing to make the details pop.

The inside was actually in the worst condition.  I chose to cover it with some paintable wallpaper I already had and then painted it the same blue.  It's a fun little area for storing (hiding) the remotes from little fingers!

I fall in love with each piece I do, so sometimes it hard to let them go.  Alas, this beauty found a lovely, new home with a gal in downtown Chicago. She even got to ride home in the back of a Mini Cooper! That let me know for she that she'd found the right home to go to!!