I'm on Apartment Therapy!

So I have this ottoman...I bought it about 7 years ago and never really liked it much. Between the olive-burgundy-brown tones in its upholstery, plus my brown chenille couch, and dark wood deco armoire, my whole living space has been looking entirely too...earthy. And it's me! I need color color color! What to do? Re-upholster or simply sell on Craigslist? But honestly, who would buy this ugly thing?

A few weeks into my job at Jonathan Adler, I brought home a bunch of the upholstery swatches for fabrics that had been discontinued. Some were from Jonathan Adler, but some were fabulously colorful and mod fabrics from Maharam. Now, I thought, what to do with these? Wonderful colors, but the pieces were a bit too small for pillows. I did like the grommets though - they added a touch of industrialism that couldn't be ignored.

Eventually, I talked it over with my friend, mentor, & boss - Arnelle - whom I assist in the interior design world. She suggested (in all her wisdom) that I make my own slipcover from the fabric samples because they'd add a much-needed bit of graphic punch for my room.

I put some black, white, and gold bands asymmetrically over the top and then mixed different patches over the rest. It took some tinkering and experimentation, but I love the end result. The silhouette is cleaner, more modern, and the colors add a huge element of fun in my otherwise traditional space.

Thanks to Apartment Therapy for posting this in their Before & After category, and thanks to everyone else for visiting! Settle in and stay a while...

Comments

[melissa]

this might just be one of the prettiest ottomans I've ever seen ~ brilliant use of the swatches!

[kim]

what a great way to repurpose the ottoman and the swatches! it definitely adds a punch of color(s) to the room...it looks great!

[Annie Wilson]

Thanks to you both! I'm pretty proud of it myself...and it was a short enough project that I didn't get bored! But who could get bored with all those colors? It's definitely the exclamation point on the room.

[Genevieve]

AWESOME! I saw the first picture and thought "did she buy a new ottoman?" Freaking brilliant. Heading over to AT now...

[Lexi]

This is fantastic! Now I feel like I need to cover every single ugly item in my apartment.

xox Lexi
<a href="http://glitterandpearls.com/">Glitter & Pearls</a>

[little augury]

amazing! transformational-creativity is always better than a the pick of any fabric to recover something. Love repurposing samples too. this is a great one-so smart to leave the grommets! pgt