A few days ago I shared that we are thinking our switching out our coffee table we've had for almost three years for a sqaure ottoman that will double as our coffee table. We're still undecided, but HUGE thank you for all the comments :) I love getting different opinions. It's no shocker, we love to save money when we can and DIY projects, which got me thinking about all the amazing DIY ottomans I've seen all over blogland. I've been thinking about DIYing and entire ottoman or tweaking an excisting ottoman I buy from a local store or on Craigslist. I'm no stranger to tweaking a ottoman, remember the vintage ottoman I re-upholstered for Avery's nusery? His ottoman came out nice, if I do say so my self, you can read more about the project here.

The idea of buying an existing ottoman is really appealing to me, I like the idea of transforming an existing piece into a custom made-for-you-only piece. I put together a few ottoman ideas using an existing ottoman, tweaked into a custom piece. Below is an idea, of what II'm considering.

1. I like this square ottoman I found at Kirland's, it's 36' by 36' which is a good size and would look nice in our space. I like the shape of the legs, but no the color. I would spray paint the existing ottoman feet Oil Rubbed Bronze (same color as Avery's ottoman's feet) I also like the idea of added Caster to the bottom on the feet, kind of like this below.

{ via here }

2. I love pretty patterned fabric and think another layer of pattern would look really pretty in our living room. I'm torn between the navy and a neutral patterned fabric. The neutral fabric is pretty, but it might blend too much with our sofa and chairs, but looking at this natural ottoman on top of a natural fiber rug (like ours) makes me think it could work!

{ via Style at Home }

3. I also like the idea of going with a solid fabric, either a shade of navy or green. The navy fabric is most practical in a house full of boys { husband included! } The fabric is an indoor outdoor fabric, so its much more durable than regular fabric, regardless I would Scotch Guard the fabric! I love look of Tori Spellings living room: neutral sofas, yellow lamps, dark wood floors { like our living room, but ours is obviously much smaller } One of the standouts in her living room, for me is her elegant large bold color choice of an ottoman! I love that its green and feels classic yet modern, perfect combination.

{ via Tori Spelling }

4. Depending on what color fabric we go with if we decide to DIY an Ottoman, I'll be changing out my existing beloved yellow tray, I found at a thrift store and re-did with a new larger tray. You can read more about my tray project makeover here. I love the lacquer trays from West Elm! We already have one in Avery's nursery, its the perfect catch-all for all his misc. baby stuff on his changing table.

I've also thought we could go the other DIY route and build an ottoman using: Wood, Foam, Batting and Feet {they sale at Home Depot or Lowes} The ottoman below was a complete DIY Ottoman made from scratch! Which completely inspires me!

{ via Eighteenth Century Agrarian }

And fo course I LOVE all the amazing coffee tables turned ottoman, I've seen all over blogland! So that's whats been on my mind the past few days.

Have you ever DIYed an Ottoman? Any plans to make one? What do you think pattern vs. solid?

I've been slowly updating the overall look of our living room. Over the Summer, I replaced our old pillows and made I made new ones. The new pillows, added additional color in our living room: navy, green and golden yellow. I also took down our artwork above our sofa, I want a larger piece of artwork of a large interestingly pretty mirror. I also added more frames to balance our wall ledges in our entryway. Click here to see how I built our wall ledges. Then in the fell we bought a mid century modern secretary desk off Craigslist and completed refinishing it in December. We also added a rug and new pillows from West Elm. Then lastly we added a fun pop of color with a pair of yellow lamps. I have a serious crush on these lamps, so glad I finally found a pair I love.

Now I'm thinking over the replacing our wood and glass coffee table. We bought the coffee table a few months after we moved in our home and while its still loved in our home. It seems to be less practical now that we have a baby. You see Avery is a little explorer and our coffee table has two areas to explore bottom and top, which is fine. Lucky the coffee table is round so there's no hard corners to worry to much about, I just worry about him bumping his head or mouth on the wood surface.

So for the past couple of weeks, I've been thinking a large-ish square or rectangle ottoman would be a nice addition to our living room. If we end up going the ottoman route, I still plan on using the ottoman similar to our coffee table, with a tray on top. A tray for me on a coffee table or ottoman is a must, a super quick way to lift items out of the way of little hands.

Here's a few looks I dig