Life Frosting: My home-upholstered ottoman

It all started with a picture...

I saw an ottoman that I liked online...but there was no way to get it. It wasn't sold in stores. So, I figured I would try to make it. Here is a brief explanation of how I did it:

Rob built a plywood box.

My Mom and I covered it with 4 inch foam using a spray adhesive.

I decided I wanted "biscuit tufting" which means the squares are symmetrical (rather than diamond tufting where one side is longer) So, I let my mom help in the measuring and drawing.

This is key: This is a foam corer. Everywhere that you are going to have a button...you need to core out the foam. So every cross. (I borrowed this one from a local upholsterer. I dont know where to buy them)

Next, I drilled through the foam and the wood at every cross.

I brought the ottoman inside, because most of the messy part was over. Then covered it in batting. Then you need to tear a hole in the batting everywhere there is a hole in the foam

I had a huge fabric, so I only needed one seam. I put the seam on a diagonal so it would be hidden with the folds.

Then...time to tuft. OKAY, so in the real upholstery world, you would mark and measure your fabric beforehand. That seemed daunting for me, so instead, I just started by doing one row at a time. Remember, you dont pull the buttons from the bottom, you push them down from the top. (or a combination. I was underneath the ottoman and Rob was outside threading the needle through to me.

This is a very long upholstery needle and thread. you thread the button and then put both strands through the needle hole. Underneath, you make one tie, put a little piece of batting in and tie again.