Project: Styrofoam Cooler Ottoman

This one is a bonus project! It was not on my original list for the summer (but you can bet I'm putting it on there so I can cross it off!), but I was going to visit my friend Melissa and she had a project in mind and wanted me to try it with her. It is an idea you may have seen on Pinterest: making a heavy-duty Styrofoam cooler into an ottoman. Several other people have already blogged about it, but I'll share my experience, which was actually pretty easy. You can compare it to Melissa's when she writes about it if you want - she had a tougher time than me, but she did a lot more tricky things with hers, and it still turned out great.

The coolers: use the heavy-duty ones, like these Omaha Steaks coolers. I made mine "open-able" so I could use the storage space inside. So, I didn't put anything inside. If you don't want to do that, you can fill it with expandable foam or some old magazine for weight or stability.

I used just a double layer of quilt batting to cover the sides of the cooler. I taped one edge then wrapped it around the cooler, and overlapped the bottom.  

Wrapped in batting that is taped down to hold in place for now.

I used staples (from a staple gun) to hold it down in some areas. It actually worked pretty well in most spots, but if there is much tension or thickness, then the staples come out fairly easy from the foam. But, for holding temporarily or in certain places that worked well.

If you want the top to be removable, don't cover up the little groove! However, I did reinforce/hide the styrofoam edge a bit with white duct tape so when I open the box it is not as stark. I'm planning to line the cooler with something, too ... perhaps tape or fabric.

Top piece and bottom piece with batting. I also used some mattress foam (borrowed from Melissa) on the top so it would be extra soft. I taped it on and then covered it all with batting.

Finally, time for the fabric. I stapled it to one corner, then wrapped it, and taped it in place temporarily. 

Then I cut off the excess in the back, leaving enough to overlap enough and cover the bottom.

The bottom was one place where the staples wanted to pop back out, what with layers of batting and overlapped fabric to hold. So, I hand-sewed a few of the corners to hold the fabric in place. 

On the top, I folded under the edge and stapled it just up to the groove for the top. This part worked very well, actually. 

Bottom done!

Alternate color fabric for the top.

The corners were tricky but they ended up looking pretty good.

Done! I really, really like it. 

So, the fabric is from the home decor section of Walmart. It is "ticking," a little thicker than regular fabric and supposed to be "soil release" or some such ... meaning it was a bit expensive. My cooler was free (thanks friend!) but the two yards of patterned fabric was about $13 total and the one yard of plain green was $7 or so. Meaning I probably could have bought a cheap ottoman/footstool from Walmart for about the same or cheaper. However, it was fun to make, it is in the color I chose, and I have enough fabric left over for a few pillows, I think. If I end up making pillows, I'd practically have a whole room set for $20. THAT would be a pretty good deal.

The problem, though, is this: I tried to pick a fabric that would match with one of our rooms. When I got there, I loved the green leaves, and convinced myself it might go all right with our fancy chair in the living room that has a flower/leaf pattern. When I got home, I realized the greens were not the same green and the patterns don't really go all that well together. So, not sure where to put it now. There are really only three rooms the ottoman could go in and be useful: the living room, the library, or the "green room" (extra bedroom/storage/craft stuff room). So, I'm going to ask for your help on this one, readers!

Here is the ottoman in each possible room. Let me know in the comments which one you think it matches best with (or clashes least with). For now it is in the living room, but I'll see what you all think about where it should more permanently reside. 

  

Living Room. It would be nice as extra seating/footstool space, but we already have a long ottoman (moved out of the way at this point) and it really kind of clashes with the fancy chair, I'm afraid. Sad about that. Should have been wiser with my fabric choice.

Library. Though it doesn't really "match" with the green chair and leaf carpet (which really don't match in themselves), it possibly clashes a bit less, and could definitely be used as a footstool. Also, it is lighter than the small footstool I had previously had in there, so I could more easily use it to reach books on the top shelf (I think I can stand on it for a moment or two at a time and not break it . . . it is pretty sturdy and I am pretty light). 

"Green Room." I'm not showing you the entire room because it is A MESS. I can never get everything to fit without it being cramped and cluttered. I'm trying to work on organizing it and moving things around to fit all the craft stuff I have and my sewing machine in a place where it won't have to be moved after I am finished using it. So, I've just got the ottoman sitting on the bed here to show you the other colors - green walls and white/lilac pillows and white/blue/teal quilt. Not that you can really see the quilt because of the stuff on the bed. Sigh. Anyway, it probably "matches" best here, but I really don't think I would use it very much in this room, as I usually only go in there to grab an item at this point.

So, let me know what you think of the ottoman and where it should go right now, until we move into a new house someday and I make sure to paint and furnish a room with furniture that won't clash so badly so it can have a comfortable home. Thanks for the input!

**Last thought. If I do make pillows to match, a last option would be to move the fancy chair out of the living room, use the new ottoman and pillows next to our papasan (the white couch) and maybe using the longer brown ottoman on the other side as a seat. I'm not sure where I'd put my fancy chair though. It could go in the library . . . but it is really pretty and I like it in the living room. Anyway, just a possible option. Even if I can't get it to match perfectly now, I'm excited about this bonus project before school starts again, and knowing that if nothing else, in the future it can be a cute piece in our future home.