ottoman oh man!

They're finished, they're finished, they're finished! 

Remember a few weeks ago when I broke out my saws? I was building a couple of ottomans! 

They gave these 2"x 2" x 8' away at work!!!! FO' FREE! They were cleaning out the production closet and sent out an email announcing there was free wood outside. I pretty much ran from my desk to grab em up. Since they were free, I decided I would try to build some ottomans to go at the end of my bed.

I knew I wanted them to be 24" tall, so I rigged up this fancy schmancy measuring layout. The legs were going to cross in the middle at a 45 degree angle, so I placed my trusty 45 degree triangle in the corner, and let the tape measurer out 24 inches. Note: this probably isn't the best way to figure this out, but it made sense at the time.

There were 4 legs for each ottoman with 45 degree cuts on each end. I drew the 45 degree angles using the triangle, and then just lined up my circular saw and cut. 

Aren't the rings nifty looking? 

I measured from the middle and marked it with pencil to cut the two shorter parts of the legs.

I used Liquid Nails to attach the legs so they would be easier to handle once I started drilling into them.

Ta daaaaa! 

There's a little phrase I said throughout this project: 

I HAVE MADE FIRE! 

 And I said it whenever I completed a step. Just thought you'd wanna know.

Up next was securing the legs. Just glue wasn't gonna cut it. I brought the legs inside, and you can see here one set fell apart. 

Like an idiot, I thought I could nail the two legs together. I used this nail sinker.

It allows you to push the nail further into the wood.

How convenient! 

AAHHHH! 

If I ever work on the floor, Diesel gets as close as he can to me.

Here he is after I told him to back up. He's saying: I'm not touching you... (with his paw thisclose to my workspace). 

After inspecting it, I found it was complete and total crap. It probably wouldn't have held up a pillow. 

So the next day I went out and purchase this pocket hole jig. I have heard lots of good things about the Kreg Jig, but Home Depot didn't have it.. but this one worked well enough!

It was quite easy. Just clamp the wood into the jig..

And drill into the holes. (That's what she said).

Note I started off inside.. big mistake! HA! 

Woo! I did it twice on each side.

It wasn't very hard, and super fast once I got the hang of it.

Next up was making the seat area. I measured and cut out rectangle pieces of plywood. Then I measured more pieces of 2x2s to make a square where the seat would attach. 

I didn't get a picture of the pieces, but here it is once I put it together! I mitered the edges, because we all know mitered edges look best. 

The frame!!! 

I honestly texted I HAVE MADE FIRE!!! to Richard with a picture of the frame once it was finished. 

Next up was getting the seat made. I bought this foam from WalMart. It was about $15, and was 24" by 72". I have plenty leftover for more projects! 

I just placed the wood on top, drew a line with the sharpie, and cut the foam. 

I glued the foam to the wood, and let them dry overnight. 

After work yesterday, I ran to Home Depot to grab some 2 1/2" wood screws to attach the frame to the legs.

They needed to be nice and long to reach through to the leggies. 

I propped the frame up on my VERY professional work table.. 

It was a lot harder than I thought it was going to be. Probably because my little paws were still sore from the weekend of hammering, sawing, and drilling.

You can see in the picture above how some of the screws are still sticking up. The wood cracked while I was trying to drill them in. I ended up stripping a few of the screws before I could get them all the way in, so I changed my method.

I took out most of the screws, then I got out this drill bit (I probably should've done this in the first place, and you're probably laughing at me if you're a woodworker yourself..). It helped the screw go all the way through both pieces. 

WOO! 

I puttied all the holes with wood filler and let it sit overnight. 

I finished everything up after work today! 

Cotton watched! 

I brought the stands back outside to my fancy work table..

and sanded the wood filler down with a block sander.

Then I sprayed 'em gold! 

In the spray paint patch, of course. 

Ooooo, how luxurious! I was nervous that it looked too gold, but it's not as bright once it's inside. I kept singing "Gooooooolllldddfingaaaaaa" since my fingers had gold paint on them. HA! 

While those dried, I finished constructing the seats. This is what my house looks like in the middle of a project, btw. Home Depot bags galore with tools sprinkled everywhere! 

I had both seats on the table and measured the fabric over them to determine how much to cut. 

Here's the fabric I used! I tried to find something that incorporated all the colors I'm using in my room. It's actually a shower curtain I found at TJ Maxx for about $12. Not too shabby eh? It was BRIGHT white, and I tea dyed it! I'll give a tutorial on that tomorrow! 

Here it is after the tea dying.

I just lined it up on the foam, and cut it about 3-4 inches wider than the sides. Then I pulled it over the back and stapled it with a staple gun.

(ps- that's a reminder written on my hand, not a tat)

I folded the edges like so. Nothing fancy.

All finished! 

I secured the seats to the base with these corner braces. I forgot to take pictures of them. Oops! 

I didn't forget to get pictures of the final product though! 

They are faaarrrrr from perfect, but for my first big building job, they aren't half bad! 

EEE! 

I'm so glad they're finished! The bedroom makeover is almost complete! 

Oh, and..

I HAVE MADE FIRE! 

linked to Addicted2Decorating and House of Hepworths