Simply Beautiful By Angela

creating simple beauty on a budget

Thrifted Wicker Ottoman Makeover

Hello and welcome to the October Thrift Store Challenge!  This is actually the last challenge of 2018 since we will be taking November and December to focus on the holidays.  Is anyone else as shocked as I am how quickly this year is sneaking to an end?  Pure craziness!


The Rules:

  • Upcycle an item(s) from a thrift store, resale store, or garage sale into a new piece of decor.
  • There’s no monthly theme.
  • There’s no budget to stick to.

Meet the Hosts

Angela | Simply Beautiful by Angela
Gail | Purple Hues and Me – Marie | The Inspiration Vault
 Michelle | Our Crafty Mom – Jenny | Cookies Coffee and Crafts   Victoria | Dazzle While Frazzled – Yami | The Latina Next Door   Habiba | Craftify My Love – Lynne | My Family Thyme                       Debra | Shoppe No. 5

Make sure you follow our board on Pinterest for more upcycled decor inspiration!

So I have to honest with you guys.  This is without a doubt my most rushed project of all time.  We spent most of Saturday at the pumpkin patch and as we were sitting in a gridlock of traffic on the way home it dawned on me that I hadn’t yet started this month’s challenge and it was this week.  Whoops!

Luckily I had picked up this wicker ottoman at the Goodwill last weekend with hopes of prettying it up a little so that I could use it as extra storage in the living room.  All of those with kids know just how crucial it is to have plenty of spaces to quickly stash away toys!

So I grabbed my supplies and quickly got to work on it as soon as we got home.

Supplies Used: (Affiliate links may be provided for convenience.  For more info, see my full disclosure here.) 

I began by taking my trusty FrogTape and taped off the a portion of the base. I just eyeballed what would look best which ended up being a little less than half but more than a third.

Once it was pressed on firmly I painted two coats of white latex paint on.

One it was dry I removed the tape and gave the unpainted portion two coats of whitewash (watered down paint) and rubbed it in with a rag after each coat.  I also did the same thing to the lid and was going to call it done but I had one more idea up my sleeve!

I took some more tape and taped off a piece of the center and painted it white.

I then took some more tape and taped off a section on either side and painted two more thinner stripes to create a grainsack pattern.

While that was drying I grabbed 4 wood ball knobs that I had on hand and stained them with Minwax Dark Walnut.  The stain ended up being a little too dark so I dry brushed some white paint on to lighten them up.

I then took a dowell screw and held it tightly in some VISE-GRIP grooveLock pliers at the center before screwing one in to each ball.

Finally I screwed the other end of the dowel in to the holes that the hubby predrilled in to the bottom of each corner.

This once beaten up ottoman now has a totally new look!

It haven’t yet filled it to the brim with toys so for now it works as a good spot to store extra pillows and blankets.

The worn look looked somewhat unattractive before, but it now seems to add character and makes it feel real farmhous-ey.

Even though I had a blast styling it for this post and setting it up on some of the wood floor planks that we plan to install soon, I want to share a real life picture of it.

See it peeking out in the back corner? This is the true state of the living room today.  I plan to re-do the fireplace, add board and batten and build built-ins on either side of the fireplace. But until then, this guy fits in perfectly in that corner.


And now for more thrifty goodness!

Check out what my fellow upcyclers created below!


Comments

  1. The ottoman looks great, the paint and knobs give it character. Storage with kids is so important. It looks perfect in the corner.

  4. Don’t you think that those rushed projects turn out the best sometimes? I love how this little fellow turned out and I feel that its is quite happy in its cosy spot in the corner. I love how you describe the things you’ll do to your living room and I can’t wait to follow along in this journey. Pinning!

    • I’m so glad I’m not the only one to experience this haha! And thank you so much 🙂

  7. I love to transform old things into something new and fresh. Your wicker ottoman looks gorgeous and it is going to be my feature at the Sweet Inspiration Link Party. Thanks for sharing 🙂

  9. Angela, fantastic makeover! I love those white stripes, so simple but it breathes new life into the ottoman!

    I will feature this project at The Creative Circle this week! Hope you join us again soon!

    • I’m so happy to hear that I inspired you! I hope you love how yours turn out just as much as I did 🙂