Upcycling to a New Ottoman

I try to reuse items as much as I possibly can. I live on a budget, so as much as I want expensive chic furniture, I have to make to due with cheaper items a lot of the time. I'm okay with this because it gives me a chance to make a standard item my own, with just a bit of paint, or some glue and give it a whole new look.

When I was living with Annie we "invested" in some cheap end tables for our living room. We purchased them from IKEA. The Lack table from IKEA is the most simple standard table you can get. I think they run less than $10 each, and come in a variety of colors. I had the one below in black.

This table has been through quite a bit. First it was a TV stand for me. Then I used it as a stepping stool while I was painting my apartment. Then, after I couldn't remove the paint stains I decided to modge podge over the top of it. I glued pictures of my friends on with the modge podge. When I moved it moved with me, and then when I moved again, it moved back with me.
By this time it was peeling badly, so I scraped off the modge podge and trust me when I say the table had seen far better days. I still didn't want to get rid of it, because I knew it was structurally sound. Then it hit me. I would make a small ottoman out of it!

The first thing I did was spray paint the table legs. They went from black to white.

It takes awhile to spray paint because you want the paint to fully dry before you turn the leg over to get the other side. Also I had to give the legs quite a few coats of paint.

This was the table top. Yeah, you see what I mean when I say it had seen better days...


When I decided I wanted to make the ottoman one of the first things I did was go to JoAnn's to buy for the top. This is when I realized foam is insanely expensive! I had no idea. A yard of 5inch thick foam runs about $35! And I needed 2 yards!
There was no way I was going to pay $70 to do a craft project (remember that budget I was talking about!). Instead I started trolling craigslist for someone who was getting rid of their sofa! Lots of times people post a sofa "curb alert". I just waited till I found one in my area and took all the sofa cushions in order to reuse the foam!

This is the foam from the sofa cushion not in its cover. I spray adhesived it to the top of the table (you can see it peeking out from underneath). Then I cut off the excess using an exacto knife.
After I made sure the glue dried I covered the entire thing the same way i reupholstered my chairs! Using just a staple gun and some staples I made this:

I just screwed the legs back in and I think it makes a fine ottoman.

I especially love it's new place as a side table! Do you recognize the other items on that table?
The silver platter is the same one from earlier this week, and the ladder where the quilts are hanging is the other half of this one!

The best part about this is that not only do I have a fun new side table, I can also pull it out of the corner and use it as extra seating!
I LOVE duel functionality!

If anyone in the DC area wants to try this craft themselves I have 3 more couch cushions that I don't know what to do with!

Let me know!