Ottomans are great pieces to own because of their versatility, but cute ones are usually pretty pricey. Luckily, you can customize an inexpensive faux leather ottoman (I've seen them for as little as $20, brand new) easily and affordably with a DIY slipcover. I found this ugly, but sturdy ottoman a couple years ago at Value Village for $10:

It's had a couple of different looks since I bought it (another reason I love slipcovers) and recently I decided to move it into Hannah's nursery. I already owned a blue chevron fabric that suited Hannah's room, so I created a pattern by tracing the ottoman's shape onto some wrapping paper. I made one piece for the top and another long piece for the sides by rolling the ottoman along my paper and tracing as I went. Then I just pinned my pattern to my fabric and cut around it.

I also decided to try making my own piping for the first time. I followed this tutorial and if you can sew a straight line, you're ready to make your own piping. I shouldn't have waited this long to try, but I had convinced myself that it would be really hard (definitely not true). Anyway, once my piping was done I pinned and sewed it to the top piece, then pinned and sewed that to the side piece. The last step is sewing the ends of the side piece together and hemming the bottom.

Now I have a nice low seat when Hannah's hanging out on her activity mat, or a place to put my feet up when Hannah and I are sitting in her rocker, or a spot to keep Hannah's favourite books within easy reach.

While I had a sewing machine (I've had to borrow my mom's since mine bit the dust), I also made a quick and easy laundry bag. Hannah's room is quite small, so I wanted something that I could hang on the hooks behind the door - still within easy reach of the changing table. You can find a detailed tutorial here, but the condensed version is that I cut out four rectangles (two from my liner fabric and two from my outer fabric), stitched them together on three sides, hemmed the top and fed my string through the hem with a large safety pin. Super easy, looks great and now we have a place to stash Hannah's dirty laundry without using up valuable floor space!

Thanks for all your sweet comments about our nursery plans - and for your changing table suggestions! There's so much conflicting information out there about what to buy that it can feel totally overwhelming, so I really appreciate hearing from you about what worked for your family :)

After Danielle posted this gorgegous home tour on her blog yesterday, I was immediately inspired by the black trim detail on the sofa:


spotted here

What an easy way to add some interest to my newly-slipcovered ottoman...


{before, this boring white slipcover needed some dressing up}

So I bought a roll of black grosgrain ribbon and broke out my trusty glue gun...


{after, with a little more oomph}

For the top, I simply folded the ribbon over at each corner and secured it with a small dab of glue. Since my slipcover had rounded corners, this approach worked best for me, but there are lots of other ways you could do it.

And just for fun, here's a little side-by-side comparison:

So, do you have any projects planned for the weekend? A huge Happy Mother's Day to all the mommas out there - enjoy your special day!

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If you've seen recent pictures of our living room, you may have noticed that our coffee table is a little small for the new layout. I knew the $10 ottoman I picked up at a thrift store ages ago would be the perfect coffee table extender - it just needed a new slipcover. Luckily I had lots of fabric leftover from my DIY chair slipcover, so last week I broke out my sewing machine and whipped up this guy.

A couple of books add some colour to an otherwise plain piece and I like how it does double-duty as a footstool or a surface to rest your snack/drink/whatever.

Now if I could just find the perfect area rug...