Wednesday 13 January 2016

Ottoman Empire

Five years ago I posted about my little ottoman. I have had it in since my student days in Oxford. It was £5 in the North Hinksey Bedding Shop Autumn Sale. I had to carry it all the way back to college, with the help of a friend, because they would not deliver anything costing less than £20! I used it as extra seating, book storage, and a coffee table. It was covered in 1970's pink and orange printed plastic.
Then when I got married, I covered it in brown fabric to match our brown and orange lounge [it was still the 1970's] Briefly it did duty as a toybox, with the lid covered in a red alphabet print [long since removed and turned into a sewing machine cover] It got rather faded and dirty.
When we moved to Kirby Muxloe, green dralon curtains made matching covers for the ottoman, and the bedroom stool. In 2011, I turned it into a shoe storage unit by putting two of those hanging shoe bags inside. At the time I mentioned I need to recover it.

This week I stripped it back to its original plastic, using a staple remover and a pair of pliers. here are the three different covers.
I'd found some striped ticking for £1.50 in a bin outside a curtain shop in Salisbury before Christmas. And then I unpicked a large piece of blue denim which had originally  been a Shepherd's Costume in the Nativity Box in the loft. The Black and Decker Powershot was fished out again, and voila, a chic new shoe store! [that is not a stain, just a damp patch where I was over zealous with the steam iron - it has dried out now]




















This should do me a few more years I think - not bad for £1.50

9 comments:

  1. It is very impressive how you have managed to reinvent it so many times. Its current incarnation is my favourite!

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  2. Hi Angela! Love this...I have one of these, though it's still got its original green floral plastic covering. At that time, you could buy matching items such as a laundry bin, loo brush and waste bin. (I think they were from 'Plsyu'?). Fab 're-inventing' for your beloved item! Mine has followed me from house to house over the years. I am loathe to part with it!

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  3. Not bad for the original fiver either!

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  4. Very nice. Love the blue with stripes on top.

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  5. Amazing transformation, I love that you re-purposed the nativity costume as well !

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