There’s something truly special about giving a piece of furniture a new lease of life, especially when it has a personal story behind it. This particular project was close to my heart, as it involved a well-loved ottoman donated by a local community member. The ottoman had once belonged to Patricia, their mother who cherished it for many years. When her family decided it was time to pass it on, as they had no room for it, I snapped it up as I just knew it had the potential to become something truly unique again.
The Process of Transformation
The journey began by carefully dismantling the ottoman, removing all its hardware, the old upholstery and giving it a deep clean. Years of use had left it a little worn, but I saw its potential right away. Once the prep was complete the transformation was ready to begin.
I decided on a colour palette of two complementary shades of blue, one pale and one dark, to give the ottoman a modern and sophisticated look. The body was hand-painted with these colours. I then added a band of silver leaf separating the two colours to give it a pop – so far so good. I then moved to the inside, and added an abstract silver leaf design to the lid and then painted the remainer dark blue as this was striking against the silver leaf.
Of course, an ottoman is meant to be functional as well as beautiful, so I installed a new “lid stay” drop down hinge to keep the lid open when needed. The feet were given a silver glaze for a polished finish that ties everything together.
Final Touches
Lastly I needed to source a suitable upholstery fabric and I found, or so I thought!, the perfect one. As soon as the fabric arrived I upholstered the lid…..
……Sadly this is where the problem came. The fabric was beautiful, I loved the two shades of blue, but it wasn’t right. I ordered the trim to finish the upholstery thinking this could be the thing that brings it all together – NOPE! I left it, I thought and thought and thought. Eventually I knew what to do and bit the bullet.
I repainted the light blue with a darker blue (but not as dark as the bottom colour) it looked perfect with the fabric, but then on inspection I realised that the fabric, although abstract, didn’t seem to be sitting in the best orientation for the design. Yes you guessed it! Off came the lid, I removed the fabric, cut a new piece and attached it in an orientation I was now happy with.
A Piece with History and Heart
Well I have to say it felt at times Patricia was fighting me all the way, but maybe she was just a woman who knew what looked good on her and wasn’t going to settle for less! So although this project was a challenge the feedback I got from the original owner was “oh WOW! that is amazing” So I think I think I did her owner proud.