When I decided to make over our front door area I wanted a small stool.  I saw this Nate Berkus Fringe Stool and fell in love.  It was only $25, perfect! Only problem was it couldn’t ship to Canada and was sold out in every store close to me.  Then inspiration hit, I figured I could create something similar.  I would simply need to find a secondhand stool.  I didn’t find one right away and it looked different than how I imagined it would, but I found a lovely storage ottoman for $4 at my local Salvation Army Thrift Store.

This had a hideous material on the seat, but I was so excited to get started I ripped it off right away.  The material underneath was moldy and stained, gross!  Ok let’s get started.

MATERIALS:  Black paint, paint brush, stapler, yarn and material for the seat.

First I cut the piece of material slightly larger than the seat, as I knew I would most likely have to trim it later anyway.

First step is to staple the sides to make the material tight across the middle, but not too tight, you don’t want it to appear it is pulling.

Once you have both sides completed you want to work on the corners.  I simply folded the piece of material up and tried to create a nice fold, almost like you would for a present.

I folded the material and made sure the back side (top was not creased) then I simply added a couple staples to hold it all in place.

There was excess material, which normally wouldn’t be a problem, but the storage ottoman seat needed to sit just inside.  I simply trimmed back the extra material so it fell below the line.

As you can see this did not turn out the prettiest!  Lol.  I tried!  But I had a solution.

I had extra felt from my Window Seat Makeover and figured this would cover the staples.

Turned out great!  And it really brought the seat together.  Now when I take it on and off there aren’t any staples to catch on and it has a clean look.

Next step was to make the tassels. I wound them around my arm 50 times each, tied at the top and cut the bottom.  Since I knew I would be trimming them later I didn’t worry about making the end perfect.

To add the tassels I used a tape measure and pencil to mark out where each one should go.  As luck would have it, this storage stool had a removable liner which helped the tassels stay in one place.

I tied a not in the end of the string and then stapled them under the lip so they were not visible.

After the tassels were added you can see being the same length did not work, it was too heavy and messy.  We are trying for classy here!  Also I painted the ottoman and didn’t take any photos!  It’s black now.  The black really brings out the little details.

To trim the tassels I measured a starting point on each side and knew which tassel was the middle so angled towards that point.  It took a few passes to get an even look, plus I kept taking off a little bit more, I eventually had to walk away!  I could spend hours trying to make something perfect, but when it comes to a DIY there is no perfect.

Voila!  Here we are.  DIY Fringe Storage Ottoman.  I love coming home and having a place for my purse and laptop bag.  Before they would end up on the floor and be in the away, now they have a spot and it really helps to keep the front door area organized!

Lots of storage for those day to day items!  We even keep our coin jar in there.

Remember not to take items you find at the thrift store for face value.  With a little paint or material it is easy to give any piece a makeover.  If I am looking for a new piece of furniture or a DIY project I always check my local Salvation Army Thrift Store first!  There are so many amazing things to find in store.

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