Friday, December 28, 2012

Ikea Lack Side Tables Turned Ottomans

I've been in the process of helping my mom with her TV room/den. You can see a little snippet of the reorganization we did here.  We also stenciled curtain panels, created a gallery wall, got a sofa on Craigslist, and bought a few new pillows and accessories.  I plan on posting more about all that soon.

Everything has been coming along nicely, but I knew it needed something and I had just the thing in mind.  The Ektorp sofa that we found for the room on Craigstlist is great for one person, but add another and it's not quite as comfortable. It's difficult to really stretch out and relax. So I figured the perfect Christmas gift would be a pair of ottomans customized to fit the room. Not only do ottomans provide a place to put up your feet, but they also function together as a coffee table and fill the space much better than the small table she had before.

Ikea Lack side table upholstered ottomans

Here are some photos of the process it took to make them.

Thanks to IKEA Hackers and all the lovely DIYers out there, I discovered that I could do this by upholstering LACK side tables, which are only $8 each!


I skipped expensive upholstery foam and bought a camping foam carpet pad at Home Depot thanks to Sarah M. Dorsey's tip for only $20.  With the table top lined up with the foam I cut along the edge with a sharp kitchen knife.  Duchess thought I needed some supervision. ;)



Then, you'll need some spray adhesive and batting.  I sprayed both the table top and the foam with adhesive and then simply slapped 'em together! Actually it took a little precision, but this part is easy as pie.



Next, I stapled the batting on starting at the center and stapling one side and then the opposite side to make sure it was evenly taut.  (If you're doing this project, when you get to the corners, make sure you don't cover up the hole where the legs will screw in.)

 

I used a hammer to make sure all staples were in there good and trimmed the excess batting away.



With Duchess's approval I moved on to the next step: stapling the fabric on. I used Ikea's Sofia fabric. Making sure to line the fabric up so that it was centered, I used the same method used for the batting and stapled away!


To make clean clean corners, I stapled down the side fabric first, pulled the fabric over the corner to the front, stapled again, and then folded down the front and stapled again. I'm not sure if that is super clear, but Sarah had great pictures of this on her post.


Ikea lack side table DIY upholstered ottomans

After the tops were done I wanted to cut some length of the legs so that the ottomans would be even height with the sofa seat.  I headed to Home Depot only to be disappointed to hear that they could not cut the Ikea legs because they were hallow.  I guessed this was because their large machine would split them, although I was frustrated at the time and didn't ask for specifics.  Instead, I asked Frank's cousin to help. He trimmed a few inches of each leg with a hacksaw and once sanded down, this worked great!

With all that done, I added a few coats of Scotch Guard for a little added protection.  Then I decided to wrap everything up separately, tie it in bows, and thoroughly confuse my mother as she opened each piece on Christmas (starting with the screws).  I didn't take any photos of the assembly process, but  all we did was follow Ikea's instructions and voila!  

Ikea Lack side table upholstered ottomans

My apologies for the dark photo.  By the time we got through Christmas festivities, assembling these, and rearranging some furniture, the sun was down.  But, check it out... success! Custom ottomans being put to good use by my lovely family!


A little candle light and a spot of tea in mom's newly transformed TV room was the perfect end to a wonderful Christmas visit with the fam before I took off to drive home.


Coming soon: I can't wait to show you the before and after photos of the room and tell you all that's gone into putting this space together. It's really been an amazing transformation!  So stay tuned!

29 comments:

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    1. Thanks Mommy!... even though you posted this comment from my account. Haha! Love you!

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  2. Replies
    1. Thank you so much Sarah! And thanks for the tip about the foam. It was the perfect alternative!

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  3. what was the yardage of fabric for each one?

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  4. Hi! I found your tutorial on Pinterst and just featured on you on my blog today: http://momommamoney.blogspot.com/2013/01/pinterst-pick-of-day-ikea-table-turns.html

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  5. Where did you get the foam, i have been looking all over Home Depot webpage and i can't find anything...?
    ottomans look awesome btw!!!!

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    1. Thank You, after a lot of digging I found it too. Apparently, they don't sell it in Texas, just up north. Well, that sucks. I'm gonna go and try to lure them into ordering like 4342 for me.

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    2. Haha. You should! It was such a simple and easy project I've been thinking about doing a bench or something the same way for my dad. I feel like I could do this project many times over for friends and family!

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  6. These turned out fabulous! I love the stripes. I am a fan of Ikea hacks. I've completed one project and have a couple more in the works. Pinning this!

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  7. Hi! Do I need to cut the legs from the bottom to shorten them or does it matter which end you cut? Thanks!
    -Megan

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    1. Hi Megan! Yes, you do need to cut them from the bottom. There is a hole on the top of the legs that you want to keep intact so that you can screw the legs on as directed in the IKEA instructions. They are also hallow inside, so it would be difficult to repair if you cut off the top end with the hole. Good luck!

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  8. Love your idea! Perfection


    happymedley.blogspot.com

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  9. I just bought a Ikea coffee table from GoodWill today that I was going to make an ottoman out of until I went to Joanns and seen the cost for the foam was $69.99 a yard. That kinda stopped me in my tracks until I seen this pin I'm going to Home Depot in the morning. Im also doing a headboard I'm defiantly using this foam. I LOVE DIY budget friendly projects..... Thanks!!!!

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    1. I know, the cost of upholstery foam is outrageous right?! So glad you found this so that you could continue with your project. Have fun!

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  10. OMG I have 4 of these tables & have been debating getting rid of them! They now have a new found purpose! I couldn't be more excited. Thank you.

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  11. Awesome awesome idea! Only one question/concern.. do you find them to be sturdy enough? I bought 2 today to do up (so I am doing them no matter what your answer haha) but my husband wondered about how much weight you could put on them... have you had any problems so far? thanks!

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    1. You're right, they're not incredibly sturdy, but so far, no problems. We pretty much only use them to put our feet up. I have sat on them with the awareness that they might not hold too well so I just try not to wiggle around or anything and that has been fine. So basically... They're perfect for putting your feet up, but I wouldn't invite over guests and tell them to sit there... especially if they've had a glass of wine or something! Haha.

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  12. Wow! These are really awesome. I would love to try this. I wonder if I can make the "table" part myself out of wood and follow the rest of the directions? I'm sure I could. It probably won't happen anytime soon, but I would love to try. Thanks for the tutorial!
    Liz

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    1. Thanks Liz. I'm sure you could make the table your self. Or start with any old coffee table. I checked out your blog also. Love it! So much creativity. Keep it up!

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  13. where do you get the staple from? cute idea.

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    1. I actually found the staple gun at Goodwill, but bought the staples at Home Depot, where they also have the gun of course. Thanks a bunch!

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