Monday, July 13

Trash to treasure ottoman

The other day, a friend told me that she had been given some Omaha Steaks and asked if my boys would like the dry ice that came in the package to "play" with. (You can't really play with dry ice, of course, but it is fun to watch it pour off steam.) Along with the dry ice, my friend gave me the Omaha Steaks cooler.

After the dry ice was gone, I started to trash the cooler. . . but then it hit me. That cooler was just the right size and shape for an ottoman.

So I rounded up some old magazines, some foam, some leftover fabric, and my glue gun. I stashed the old magazines inside the cooler to give the cooler added weight. I glued the foam to the cooler.

Then I wrapped the whole thing in fabric just like I'd wrap a present. And presto! An ottoman.

At this point I had spent zero dollars, and I was pretty pleased with the result. But I realized that I'd like the ottoman better if it had feet. So I went to Home Depot and spent a few dollars ($3 each) on unfinished feet. I sprayed them with some brown spray paint I had on hand.

Here is the finished product:

I have it on my front porch, where it works as an ottoman and a coffee table. What do you think? I think it could use a bit more glue, and I need to straighten out one of the feet, but overall I like it!

For a full tutorial, click here!

Check out other cool projects at Metamorphosis Monday over at Susan's place and then more at Kimba's DIY Day!


50 comments:

  1. Thrifty and clever all in one! You would never guess that was a styrofoam cooler!! Amazing!

    Amy

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  2. Are you kidding me??? This is brilliant! It looks spectacular!

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  3. wow- how clever! i hate to throw away stuff like that... i always think there must be something i can do with it!!

    i was spray-painting some frames this weekend and i thought of your spray-painted shoes! i almost did mine, but i ran out of paint!

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  4. That is vision! Looks great on your porch. Very creative.

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  5. Aren't you clever! I started reading thinking "oh no, tell me she isn't making an ottoman out of that cooler!" and you did! LOL! I think it turned out great!

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  6. That's really thinking "outside the box" (tee-hee). Great idea!!!

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  7. Wow is that just amazing of what?
    I love it!
    I know we have one of those somewhere around here!
    How perfect if is for outside too
    I love it!!!!

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  8. Quite Brilliant!!!! Miss you, but I enjoy catching up with you via your blog :)

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  9. Well this brings all kinds of ideas into my head. Think of all the things one could use for an ottoman.
    Very clever.

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  10. I always knew that there was a perfect way to use those coolers, but couldn't figure out what that was. YOU DID!

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  11. I love it and sooooooo creative !
    Hugs ~ Kammy

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  12. Wow, you did a great job in converting that foam container into an attractive piece of useful home decor!

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  13. I am SO glad that styrofoam did not go into the trash! You did a great job converting it into an ottoman ... it cost almost nothing and it was better for the environment to keep it out of the dump! Thanks for sharing! And if you get a chance, please do come by for a visit...

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  14. I love it!!! I would have never have thought of this in a million years.

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  15. Wonderful! You did such a good job with that ottoman!

    Manuela

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  16. That's probably the most inventive idea I've ever seen!! It looks great! Nice going.

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  17. Okay, someone else already took the words right out of my mouth, but...."Are you KIDDING ME!?!?!?!" That is so brilliant! I would not have imagined! Goodness, you people never cease to amaze me! Thanks for the GREAT idea!

    Melissa :D

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  18. I love this thrifty, cute project. Very fun!!!

    Visiting from Kimba's party! :)

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  19. Oh no! That's is killing me. We just threw away our Omaha steaks cooler! Ouch! Should I ever be lucky enough to get them again, I will remember this wonderful makeover.

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  20. I will be on the lookout for styrofoam coolers! Hey, you are saving the environment too...right?! brilliant!

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  21. Are you kidding me? An ottoman out of styrofoam?!! You are brilliant!!! This would have never crossed my mind, I LOVE when people re-use things instead of trashing them. This really is perfect :)

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  22. Wow!That is what I call repurposing! Way to think outside of the box, er uh cooler! :)

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  23. Love your DIY project...so creative and looks great!! When you get the chance, check out my new blog!

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  24. You are amazingly creative! Well done!

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  25. That is hilarious! It looks awesome! I would have never thought of doing that... now I'm thinking I have a styro cooler in my garage! I'd love to turn that into an ottamon as fabulous as yours! You rock!

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  26. I think I have one of those coolers in my garage. Hmm...

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  27. You have got to be kidding me! That is the most amazing "reuse" in "reduce-reuse-recyle" I have ever seen.

    Bravo! Well done! I even has legs!

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  28. Simply awesome! Seriously - that is one thrifty and beautiful ottoman! I love the idea and the resourcelfulness!

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  29. Simply awesome! Seriously - that is one thrifty and beautiful ottoman! I love the idea and the resourcelfulness!

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  30. Now that beats any of my reuses hands down. I actually have one of those in my garage. LOL!

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  31. Amazing and so creative! Love it! Love that fabric too!

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  32. Very creative! You definitely have the talent to see the "trash" and turn it into a treasured project.

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  33. This is awesome! You made it look so easy! Be great to link to Met Monday at BNOTP...Mr. Linky went up just a bit ago. :-) susan

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  34. I just happened upon your blog and I'm just amazed with how you used the Omaha Steaks cooler. Awesome!

    I have 2 or 3 of these coolers and all I did was use them as storage boxes.

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  35. I cannot believe how good this looks! That is so funny -- brilliant!

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  36. I have 3 of these coolers in the garage! How did you attach the legs?

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  37. Love it. I did a similar project this summer and everybody laughed at me.

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  38. Hi I just found this, googling how to make a footstool from Styrofoam. How did you attach the feet?

    Kind Regards
    Blue

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  39. Blue, at first I simply inserted the screw part of the feet into the styrofoam and used heavy-duty glue to attach them. That worked okay but was fairly wobbly. So when I re-did the ottoman, I cut a piece of plywood to cover the bottom, drilled holes for the screw portion of the feet, and screwed the feet securely into place. That worked much better!

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