Saturday, January 23, 2010

PB Ottoman Copycat

About four or five years ago, my friend Angela and I decided to copy Pottery Barn's ottoman.  The only building we had ever done involved a simple train table for our Thomas the Train lovin boys. After we built the tables, we thought we could build anything. (scary!)  We studied the magazine, the dimensions, the fabric...and the legs.  I remember walking into the Pottery Barn store and touching and feeling the REAL ottoman.  I measured the height against my leg, trying not to look like a CRAZY lady in the store!
Image from Pottery Barn

We had the hardware store make our major cuts and Angela's husband cut our legs out of a 4x4. She sanded the legs for many hours trying to make them smooth.  We knew we needed a box topped with upholstery foam, but we were unsure of how to attach the legs.  We asked the guy in Lowe's  and he said that on piano legs, they sometimes attatch the legs using large dowels.  You know, it worked! We chose a suede fabric for upholstery, sewed, and it was beautiful.

My boys have trashed it since and it was time for a new cover.      
So sad.
I ripped off the old upholstery and began sewing a new one!
This is the old back. (oh ,all the work it took to make that!)
This is the frame.  It's basically a box made out of plywood, with (4x6's?) glued & screwed in the corners.  We drilled out the dowel size in the legs to later insert.
This is my first quilt top I made and it taught me so much about the basics of quilting!  My expert MIL patiently taught me how to cut squares and piece them together, making sure that I matched seams up evenly.  It eventually led me to think that I could quilt upholstery fabric!
I found in Home Fabrics a couple of months ago,  faux leather that is sewable.  I thought it would be fun to try on the ottoman.  Only thing is...there's no room for error!  You can't unpick vinyl, it leaves holes! Over the last few weeks I have cautiously sewed this together. If I were to do it again, I would probably pick microfiber or upholstery fabric instead.  I could not round the corners like I wanted to, because I couldn't unpick and fix it.  It's also a little too vinylish....I think I prefer the feel of fabric.
I pulled out my old pattern.  I think I may have been smarter four years ago.  Is it true that with each baby you lose a little of your brain cells?  It took me forever to decipher my old pattern!!!
I cut out each of the squares using my templates.  The templates help keep the squares accurate, which is imortant when quilting. (btw...I'm NOT an experienced quilter....just learned the basics!)
Matching seams carefully, sew each square together.

Here's a picture of the piecing process.
After the top was all done, I put it on the ottoman to make sure it fit. I didn't remember it this time...but the pattern was a wee bit to big.  It makes it harder to have nice corners when you upholster, because it bunches from the extra fabric.
I was going to make my own buttons like last time....but the make- your -own buttons are really, really crummy! I went searching all over town for true upholstery buttons and had no luck.  I found these buttons in a fabric store already made.  Only problem was that they were a shade off.  So, I colored them walnut with a stain pen.  Just right!
Here's a close up of the leg.  I never glued mine in just in case I wanted to change something.  I'm glad I didn't!
I didn't have popsicle sticks to wrap the string around for the buttons, so I improvised with pencils.  (TRUE upholsterers and carpenters are probably dying with my technique!)

I cut and stained trim pieces to finish off the edges.
I nailed the trim on with the nail gun. You like those PENCILS? :)

Anyway, that was a reeeaallly long post.  Hope it was helpful to anyone that wants to attempt to build and upholster an ottoman. There's probably a better way to make it, but this thing has made it for four years with little boys catapulting off it.

38 comments:

gail@My Repurposed Life said...

wow! candace, that is awesome! great job, and very nice tutorial. Way too much work for me (sewing) but yours looks fabulous!
gail

Tracy's Trinkets and Treasures said...

I thought you did a great job and I enjoyed reading your description. My sister just bought some cool furniture from Craig's List and it came with a huge ottoman. Nice to know it can be recovered if ever needed.

Patricia @ 9th and Denver said...

What a great job you did on your tutorial-- I love looking at the furniture 'Fake-Overs' on all the blogs.

Yours happens to be pretty dog-gone good!

Destination Seaborn said...

OMGoodness! This is amazing! You did an awesome job. I have to put this in my idea file...and only dream that it will look as great as yours! Lisa

Becca Bertotti said...

What an amazing transporation !! Kudos to you for having the skill (and patience) to do that !! Beautiful !! Take care, Becca (Adventures in Decorating)

René said...

WOW! I am impressed! That was quite a project and it turned out great.

Robyn said...

OMG! That's awesome!

InMyOwnStyle said...

I am totally impressed. You need to go into business doing this.

Diane @ InMyOwnStyle.com

Amy@TheLemonCottage said...

That is amazing! I could never in a million years figure out how to do that! (giggling at the catapulting comment) What is it with boys??? Crazy kids. LOL
Congrats on such a fantastic job.
~Amy

Sherry @ No Minimalist Here said...

I am so impressed! I would pull all my hair out before I finished a project this complicated. Great job. Thanks for stopping by my blog and I am glad I found yours.

Kathy@theshebearofeleven said...

How creative you are! It looks great and how satisfying for you that you made it yourself.

Kathy @ Creative Home Expressions said...

This came out great!

Kathysue said...

Wow! this is not crafty this is out and out a great reupholstering job, Amazing. It looks just like the picture ,you are one clever lady, Kathysue

Anonymous said...

Oh, you're good! Your ottoman looks amazing! I'm so impressed!
Be a sweetie,
Shelia ;)

Treasia Stepp said...

An amazing job. It looks fabulous.

Anita@Theycallmejammi said...

The ottoman looks like you bought it from Pottery Barn...great job on the build and the upholstery...clever to use the pencils for the buttons. Looks great.

kathleen said...

It is beautiful in real life! Love, MIL

autumn said...

holy cow candace!
you are like a whirlwind of energy! i love how awesome your ottoman looks! seriously, i am usually able to spot home-done upholstery projects, but i would never be able to tell that you did this your self! nicely done.

my home sanctuary said...

Great job.
Thanks for sharing.

Maryann @ Domestically-Speaking said...

Impressive! That is a complete transformation... looks just like PB.

Nancy said...

I'm impressed. This is the third PB copy I've seen today. You guys are great!

The Pennington Point said...

Amazing! I do a lot of this kind of project and I know how hard it is to make it look good. I am impressed! Lisa~ www.livingmybestlifeii-lisa.blogspot.com

Michelle @ Sweet Something Design said...

WoW! That turned out awesome! Great job!

Stephanie Lynn @Under the Table and Dreaming said...

That looks great - and even greater becasue you made it! Wow - how inspiring! Love the new cover too!

Ashley @ AshleysBusy said...

Wow. Seriously, wow. It look exactly like the PB one. See what you can do when you put your mind to something. Great job!

Lei said...

Um, WOW is right!

Aja said...

Awesome! Great job, it looks just like the PB version!

Desiree said...

What a fabulous makeover! You are very talented and brave to take that on. I have one store bought that is almost EXACTLY the same! (well, no pencils...LOL! I would have never even thought of that and given up...

sarah said...

Wow! you did a fantastic job-so inspiring!!!

Anonymous said...

That is beyond me how in the world you made that look so much like the PB ottoman. I could never in my wildest dreams make an ottoman that looks that good! Great Job

Ginger said...

Loved this tutorial. It would save so much money to do it .You did a awesome job on it !Love it!

Tracy Wills said...

Great job, looks awesome!

Miss Mustard Seed said...

What a gorgeous job! I thought the first picture was your inspiration picture, it looked so good. Amazing work and great tutorial.

Kristi~The Slipcover Girl said...

what a fantastic job! you put pottery barn to shame!

Diana Sh P said...

wow! great job. thanks for the tutorial...

blessings,
diana

Deborah said...

Great job! Looks very nice

Creative Escapes said...

awesome!

Cynthia said...

Beautiful. Can you explain how/why you use the Popsicle/pencil?

Thanks!!!

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