I'm all about refurbishing things to fall in love with them all over again...without spending a fortune. The only problem is I'm not super crafty. Nope, didn't inherit that gene from my Mama. 

Luckily for me, one of my besties, Kari, is. She doesn't have a blog or store (yet!), so I can't post a link. But once she's up and running with her Etsy shop, I'll definitely let y'all know. She makes amazing canvas paintings and all kinds of other stuff! 

So, with the invaluable guidance of my crafty friend, I took the plunge and decided to recover my ottoman.

Now, my husband thought I was crazy (which I told him he knew already when he married me) because our living room furniture is barely a year old. Why did I insist on recovering the ottoman?

I do love my furniture, but here's the thing. I wasn't really thinking in terms of my decorating scheme when we bought it. (See? Crazy.)

We were in the middle of having a house built, so I was super overwhelmed by all the decisions we'd already had to make. Everything from light fixtures to paint color...even the tiny things you'd never think about.

All those choices can make a girl insane!

So when it came time to buy furniture, I was already emotionally spent. As soon as we found a set that we both (somewhat) agreed on, I was DONE. 

Unfortunately, the accent pieces gave off more of a beach vibe than the farmhouse charm I was looking for (notice the big flowers next to my handsome little man).

My brother-in-law and his wife even used the same exact set in their Pensacola beach condo without realizing it! Aaand...the same pieces were seen on an HGTV show. In a beach house.

Don't get me wrong - I love the beach! But we live on six acres in a neighborhood surrounded by cow pastures and hay fields. Hence, the need for recovering.

Since I wanted this done as quickly, cheaply, and painlessly as possible (of course), we opted for an off-brand Liquid Stitch-type fabric glue instead of sewing the seams.

How to Make a Homemade Ottoman Cover

If you're ready to recover your own ottoman, here's what you'll do:

1. Measure your ottoman (make sure you decide how low you want the cover to hang on the sides and take that into account).

2. Pick out an awesome fabric (we went to Hobby Lobby, of course) and have a worker cut it for you.

3. Drape the fabric (design side down) over the ottoman. You may find that you need to do some additional cutting at this point to get the sides just right.

Note: We ended up having to cut each side and then glue them together because my ottoman is wider than the max width of fabric available. If this happens to you, simply glue the edges of each piece together. Then leave them connected with chip clips or something similar while you finish the project. Be sure to leave enough space for the corners and seams so that when you flip the cover over, it'll fit without being too snug. 

4. Making sure the cover is even on all sides, fold the bottom edges, creating a crease to mark your spot.

5. Glue along the edges where you've folded to make the seams, one side at a time.

6. Carefully take the cover off the ottoman and lay it as flat as possible to dry overnight.

7. Flip the cover right side out and put it on your ottoman. 

That's it - you're done! Easy-peasy, right? It isn't perfect, of course, but I'm really happy with how it turned out. 

Next up, making some throw pillow covers to match. For now, I stuck a few of the flowered pillows that came with my furniture into pre-made teal covers (Hobby Lobby find, a few bucks each), but I'll add covers with other designs on the remaining pillows. 

Another day, another post. At least now I don't feel like I should be staring at ocean waves.

So...since you no longer need to stress over buying a new ottoman, you can sit back, relax, and grab a new book!

What easy DIY crafts have you done to make your home reflect your style? Tell me about them in the comments. :)