DIY Reupholstered Ottoman (And All The Mistakes Along The Way)

The world of the internet likes to make us think that DIY is so easy. I mean often we only see the beautiful end result so it’s no wonder that so many feel super intimidated to take on a project when they have really absolutely no idea what they are doing.

As someone who considers herself a DIYer, I have to admit that projects do not always go as planned.

Most of the time, I’m figuring things out as I go, and on occasion I screw up royally right in the middle of a project and have to come up with a way to make it work.

That’s exactly what happened hours into this reupholstered ottoman job that I was doing for my mom. Quitting or starting over again would have cost me a few hours of my life, not to mention a good chunk of fabric.

Good news is that we made it work! It isn’t perfect, but I’m pretty sure only her and I (and now all of you) would ever even notice.

So in order to keep it real, today I’m showing you that even those of us who do lots of projects mess up. As long as I learn something from each project I consider it a success, even if it isn’t fun.

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So get ready for a DIY reupholstered ottoman tutorial that will show you both what to do and not to do!

Little Back Story...

My mom found this ottoman on Craigslist when they lived in their last house. It was that ugly fake leather that was peeling off, but the shape is just fantastic! So she took it to an upholsterer and had it professionally reupholstered in this blue fabric.

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Fast forward 4 grandkids and a dog later and there are definite signs of too much fun.

Her color scheme has also shifted a bit so it was time to freshen this bad boy up, but the fancy (professional) reupholstery guy wasn’t in the budget this time around.

After all, those 4 grandkids still exist, and are still going to have lots of fun on and around this ottoman. And since I had reupholstered or at least slip covered an ottoman before she called on me for my help and we took on the job together.

I was pretty impressed that we were able to still do piping around the edge!

If you’re planning on redoing an ottoman, of course every one will be a bit different, but here’s what we did (and also what you shouldn’t do).

How to reupholster an ottoman

We decided to remove the existing upholstery so that we could use it at a template. Math is not my strong suit, and it isn’t my mom’s either.

We removed the staples with a flat screwdriver. This is a long process, so be sure to have some good music, or a show on. We did this for each piece and then took the top and sides apart too. We also saved the piping and reused it as well.

Once we were done disassembling the last upholstery job, we used each piece as a template to cut out our new fabric. We cut to allow for a 1 inch seam.

Now here’s where we went wrong, and I’m still not sure how we messed this up, but the part that goes around the sides of the ottoman ended up being about 10 inches too short. In hind sight, we should have measured that portion and used the top as a template. Who knew right?

Once all of the pieces were cut out and I had my piping sewn, I pinned everything in place. I laid the circle (top) out flat then carefully took my piping and the edge of the side piece (one long piece) and pinned it in place. It ended up looking like a giant baked brie cheese in a puff pastry by the end. mmmmmm…. brie cheese

This is also when I realized that my side piece was too short and that it didn’t reach all the way around the circle. Ugh!

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I wasn’t about to start all over again. I had been working on this for awhile, my kids were going nuts-- and so was I.

Not to mention there wasn’t that much fabric to spare, so here’s what we did to fix it!

You see in the picture above (top left) how the original sides don’t come all the way together? I just added in an extra little panel to make up for the difference and sewed it right in place, tucking the two edges of the original side piece in so that when I put it on the ottoman and pulled the fabric tight to staple it underneath, the edges laid flat and looked finished. You can see what I mean in the picture (top right). This is the ottoman now upside down.

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Once that big mistake was remedied I was able to continue pulling the fabric tight and stapling it in place. The only thing to be super careful of is that you don’t pull the fabric so tight that the piping around the edge gets distorted.

So there you have it! A freshened up ottoman for the cost of a few yards of fabric and an afternoon of frustration. The result is one happy mom/Uma (my mom), so it was all worth it!

Have you ever been half way through a project when you realized you really messed up? Were you able to fix it and make it work?

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P.S. What if I told you there's a whole new (and way easier) way to decorate your home—without the overwhelm, indecision, or endless Pinterest scrolling.