DIY semi-success

While cleaning out our house, Stuart and I came across this old box that he and his Dad made together during his fraternity days.  Being that some of the sides weren't even, and it didn't sit flat on the ground, and it looked like it was from Italy, we almost decided to throw it out.  Until, that is, we channeled our inner HGTV stars and decided to turn it into something spectacular: an ottoman!

Here's the box.  This was mid-destruction as Stu was trying to rip apart everything but the skeleton frame.

I left all the sawing and hammering to Stuart.  Well, I did do some hammering.  I also had a few bruised fingers to show for it.  As the box was being made, I pondered over how I wanted the lid to look.  I finally decided on a cushion using our leftover curtain fabric.  Then I realized ... I have no idea how to upholster.  Well - it turns out to be pretty simple!

I'm not sure if I did it exactly the way you're "supposed to", but the fabric stayed tight!  I placed a foam cushion on the board (with a little wood glue for extra stick-to-it-ness), then stretched the fabric tight over it and hammered in lots and lots of little steel tacks on the underside.

Tacks in progress

 That turned out to be kind of plain and not sturdy enough, so then I added some shiny bronze-colored decorative tacks on the outside.  These are pretty and also feel really fun when you run your hand over them.  Again, however, sore fingers from all that hammering.  And probably upset neighbors, too ...

The pretty tacks

I finished the cushion about the same time Stu finished the frame, and then we painted the base dark brown to match the fabric.  We put casters on the legs to give it a nice roll.  Then we had to figure out how to hinge the lid and base together.  You'd think that between an engineer and a doctor that would have been easy, but I regret to inform you otherwise.

With lots of hours spent, and several trips to Lowes later, we were finally finished.  And I have to say, we were pretty dang proud of ourselves.

We stood back from our work, gave a few high fives (really, we did), and rolled that baby upstairs.

Then we got it next to the couch and realized ...

It's WAY too tall to be an ottoman!  AGGGHHHH!!  That's what we get for not measuring it to begin with I guess.  We've rolled it around our house elsewhere and decided it could be a useful end-of-the-bed bench/storage, or perhaps something for a future mudroom.

Regardless, we're pretty proud of our woodworking and upholstering skills, however rudimentary!