Make your own DIY upholstered storage ottoman. The step by step tutorial and plans show you how to build an ottoman with basic tools and how to cover an ottoman in fabric.
You will also like DIY under bed shoe organizer and DIY entryway storage bench
This DIY upholstered storage ottoman…Isn’t it perfect?! And that fabric… I can’t stop staring at it!
We have been on the hunt for the perfect ottoman for a while now.
I have been dreaming about a nice ottoman that would have the perfect amount of storage. Take a look at some of my favorites. Unfortunately, most fell short of the cuteness factor…
So I just had to take things into my own hands and build the perfect piece!
It turned out exactly perfect!!
Now, along with the awesome spot to put our feet up, we have a spot to keep all the blankets and games…
RELATED: 20 Creative DIY storage ottoman ideas
Shop my T-shirt designs –
***This post contains affiliate or referral links. It is a way for this site to earn advertising fees by advertising or linking to certain products and/or services. Please read my full disclosure here ***
Materials needed to build a storage ottoman –
The ottoman I built is 36″ x 22″ and approximately 14.5″ high and the plans reflect the same. You can modify the dimensions as needed.
You can get printable plans for this DIY Upholstered Ottoman by clicking below.
GET THE PRINTABLE PLANS
The ottoman is made in two major steps.
- Building the storage ottoman box, and
- Upholstering the entire box
Let’s start with building the ottoman box-
Materials needed for building the storage ottoman –
- 2″ x 2″ x 4′ board
- 1″ x 8″ x 12′ board
- 3/4″ plywood
- 1/4″ plywood or hardboard – for the bottom of the storage frame.
- Kreg Jig
- Miter Saw
- 1 1/4″Pocket hole screws
- wood glue
- 30″ piano hinge
- Center mount toy box lid support (total 2)
How to build an ottoman –
- Start by building the short sides. Attach them to the 2″ x 2″ boards using wood glue and use 1 1/4″ pocket hole screws. You can also use countersunk wood screws from the sides if you do not have a kreg jig.
- Attach the long aprons with pocket holes and wood glue to create the box.
- Attach a 1/4″ plywood bottom for the storage frame using wood glue and finish nails. Also, cut the 3/4″ plywood for the top and make sure everything fits. At this point, you can drill holes in the top plywood if you plan a tufted top. I made 5 holes.
- This is also a good time to paint the feet to match your furniture. I had painted the legs of my Karlstad couches with Oil rubbed bronze spray paint. So, I painted the legs of this ottoman to match that!
Time to upholster!
Materials needed to upholster a storage ottoman –
- Batting
- 3/4″ Foam (I used remnant from a foam mattress topper)
- poly fill (I re-used filling from old pillows)
- 2.5 yds Fabric of choice for outside – I used this fabric.
- 2 yds Fabric to line the inside and bottom (I don’t know what it is called but the lady at Joann called it the sofa liner fabric. It is super cheap at $2.99/yd)
- Staple gun and staples
- spray adhesive
- 5″ doll needle
- Thick upholstery thread
- Fabric covered button kit.
How to upholster a storage ottoman –
- Wrap the frame in batting. Staple the batting around the frame. Follow that with the outer fabric. Where the fabric ends, I just created an overlap and folded in the raw edge of the fabric. I glued that raw edge using fabric glue. Its hard to even see the seam.
- Now cut the inner lining fabric to size – making allowance for the sidewalls and some extra to fold in. spray the inside of the frame with spray adhesive.
- Smooth the liner fabric along the inner storage box. On the corners, I folded the extra fabric inside, like we do in a gift wrap
- Fold in the raw edge of the liner fabric and staple along the edges. Our bottom storage box is read.
- Now for the top – lay the foam on the top plywood. The foam should be cut about 1/4″ larger than the plywood. Layer polyfill on top of the foam – in my case it was filling from old pillows (don’t worry – I washed them beforehand). Lastly, wrap it with batting and staple on the bottom.
- Cover the top with the outer fabric and staple it to one of the long sides.
- Time to tuft. First, put together the fabric covered buttons per directions on the package. To tuft, I pretty much followed this awesome tutorial on how to do this. Once the tufting is done, staple the fabric all around the top.
- Cover the back of the top with liner material. I did a double layer since a single layer was not opaque enough. Fold in the raw edge and staple it to the sides.
- Attach the top to the storage frame using the piano hinge.
- Attach the toy box lid support hinges. Ideally, these should be attached on either side of the piano hinge. I started with attaching one in the middle but realized it was not enough to hold the weight, so I ended up adding another one next to it.
And we are done! It was a little bit of a long process but totally worth it!
It is exactly what I was looking for. I am in love with the fabric pattern. It brings much-needed pattern and color to the living room.
I took a long long time to pick this fabric… I looked everywhere! Finally, when I saw this, I couldn’t get it out of mind and no matter which design I saw, I just kept coming back to this. I was afraid it might be a bit too busy, but it actually adds the perfect amount of color and pattern next to my plain couches.
AND it has the perfect amount of storage too!
What do you think? Have you built a storage ottoman?
GET THE PRINTABLE PLANS
If you are looking for more DIY storage ottoman ideas,
Be sure to take a look at a list of my favorite from around the web – 20 DIY Storage Ottoman Ideas to Inspire You! 
You might also enjoy these articles on storage ottomans –
DIY Upholstered Storage Ottoman
Make your own DIY upholstered storage ottoman. The step by step tutorial and plans show you how to build an ottoman with basic tools and how to cover an ottoman in fabric.
Materials
- 2" x 2" x 4' board
- 1" x 8" x 12' board
- 3/4" plywood
- 1/4" plywood or hardboard - for the bottom of the storage frame.
- 1 1/4"Pocket hole screws
- wood glue
- 30" piano hinge
- Center mount toy box lid support (total 2)
- Batting
- 3/4" Foam
- poly fill
- 2.5 yds Fabric of choice for outside
- 2 yds Fabric to line the inside and bottom (I don't know what it is called but the lady at Joann called it the sofa liner fabric. It is super cheap at $2.99/yd)
- Thick upholstery thread
- spray adhesive
- Fabric covered button kit.
Instructions
- Start by building the short sides. Attach them to the 2" x 2" boards using wood glue and use 1 1/4" pocket hole screws. You can also use countersunk wood screws from the sides if you do not have a kreg jig.
- Attach the long aprons with pocket holes and wood glue to create the box.
- Attach a 1/4" plywood bottom for the storage frame using wood glue and finish nails. Also, cut the 3/4" plywood for the top and make sure everything fits. At this point, you can drill holes in the top plywood if you plan a tufted top. I made 5 holes.
- This is also a good time to paint the feet to match your furniture. I had painted the legs of my Karlstad couches with Oil rubbed bronze spray paint. So, I painted the legs of this ottoman to match that!
- Wrap the frame in batting. Staple the batting around the frame. Follow that with the outer fabric. Where the fabric ends, I just created an overlap and folded in the raw edge of the fabric. I glued that raw edge using fabric glue. Its hard to even see the seam.
- Now cut the inner lining fabric to size - making allowance for the sidewalls and some extra to fold in. spray the inside of the frame with spray adhesive. .
- Smooth the liner fabric along the inner storage box. On the corners, I folded the extra fabric inside, like we do in a gift wrap.
- Fold in the raw edge of the liner fabric and staple along the edges. Our bottom storage box is read.
- Now for the top - lay the foam on the top plywood. The foam should be cut about 1/4" larger than the plywood. Layer polyfill on top of the foam - in my case it was filling from old pillows (don't worry - I washed them beforehand). Lastly, wrap it with batting and staple on the bottom.
- Cover the top with the outer fabric and staple it to one of the long sides.
- Time to tuft. First, put together the fabric covered buttons per directions on the package. To tuft, I pretty much followed this awesome tutorial on how to do this. Once the tufting is done, staple the fabric all around the top.
- Cover the back of the top with liner material. I did a double layer since a single layer was not opaque enough. Fold in the raw edge and staple it to the sides.
- Attach the top to the storage frame using the piano hinge.
- Attach the toy box lid support hinges. Ideally, these should be attached on either side of the piano hinge. I started with attaching one in the middle but realized it was not enough to hold the weight, so I ended up adding another one next to it.
- That's it!
Leanna says
This is perfect Anika. We bought a new couch two days ago and my current coffee table is the wrong proportion. The matching ottoman is $700 so Hubs said build one. I guess we will just do that lol. Love it, you helped me out.
Jenny says
This tutorial is amazing! I love an ottoman with storage. I might have to make this. Pinning! Thanks for sharing at #HomeMattersParty
Audra @ Renewed Projects says
I popped over to comment on the beautiful fabric choice and am blown away that you made this whole thing from scratch! I thought you’d just recovered an older ottoman. You have skills! Thanks for the plans, I’ve pinned them for when I’m gutsy enough to try it.
Sarah Welch says
This is looking really really nice. I like the fabric.
Alison says
Hiya, just commenting to say thanks for posting this! I’ve had this page open on my browser for about six months to inspire me to get on with making (and actually finishing) my own storage ottoman, and I have finally done it!
To make the box I used white shelves left over from DIYing our kitchen, and used a (probably unnecessarily) large number of metal brackets to fix them together, as well as a few long screws. I bought some 4″ foam for the top, and thick wadding to wrap around that and the base, and covered it all in leftover curtain fabric (so it matches!). The feet are attached separately – cubes of wood cut from a 1.5″ square post picked up at our local wood recycling place, stained walnut brown and with a clear varnish layer on top. The lid currently isn’t attached, and as the sides aren’t really wide enough to add a hinge we are considering adding four blocks of some kind to the corners of the lid so that it fits on top neatly and doesn’t slide around.
Attaching the wadding and curtain fabric was a two-person job (whilst reupholstering our dining chairs my fiance and I developed a system where I hold the fabric in place and he hammers in a metal tack).
I also made a darker removable cover for the lid because our patterned curtain fabric has a light-coloured background (like yours) and we are using this as a footstool! So the nice fabric is there, but it’s usually hidden under a hardwearing navy slip cover that I can wash as necessary.
Thanks again, this inspired me to get on with it! (And I am typing this from my sofa in Bristol, UK…with my feet up).
Anika says
Hi Alison, That is awesome! I am so glad I was able to inspire you to build this! Especially, I love that you re-used the shelves! Great Job!