This post was originally published in 2014… when I was just a brand new blogger. I’m updating it now because, well to be honest, it was a popular post and a really popular upcycle project and I believe it is a good way to use Vintage Fur.
Here’s the thing guys, it is real fur from a real fur coat I found in a bin at the thrift store. It was torn and old and e unwearable and I felt like this project was its best chance at a final use. I received lots of hateful comments on this post… If you know me, you know I am an animal lover. I am a earth loving, upcycling, believer in the sanctity of life – so if you feel the need to leave a hateful comment, please stop yourself and appreciate this project for what it is. My attempt to make something beautiful and useful… xoxo
Today I’m showing you how I made a DIY Vintage Fur Ottoman!
I also have to be honest with you that as I was making this, I kept thinking “this is a little weird”. But I asked my Bloggy friends and they all said “Go for it!”. Then I realized one of my favourite bloggers The Nester did an entire CHAIR this way – so now I say “Bully to weird!” I always promised to be honest about projects – so here it goes.
I found this jacket in the fabric section at our local thrift store for $8 a while back. It was in terrible shape, ripped all up the back seams and along the sleeves. But for that price, I knew I could work with it. $8 for real fur is half the price of faux fur at the fabric store!
Let’s rewind again. Some of you may remember I picked up four of these cable spools. They sat in the garden room (and now shed) for months while I tried to decide what to do with them. As soon as I bought the vintage fur coat – I knew!
I snagged some 3″ foam , and some MCM legs and angled hardware at Home Depot and got to work. Then, with a Sharpie, I marked the size of the disc on my foam and cut it out with a serrated knife.
Here are the Supplies you need to make a fur (or faux fur) ottoman
I realized the spool itself was much too high to make a comfortable ottoman, so I separated the discs from each end. Then, using a spare piece of 2×2 wood, I cut four pieces at approximately 4.5″ long.
With wood glue and my Ryobi Air Striker nail gun, I attached the 2×2 pieces to the discs to make the structure of my ottoman. And I used a little spray glue to attach the foam piece to the top.
So, here came the RIDICULOUS part. Because I was working with damaged goods, I used a hot glue gun to fix some of the broken seams. I tried Gorilla Glue, but oddly enough, the hot glue worked much better.
Even after the repairs, I still couldn’t find a piece of the coat big enough to actually fit all the way around the ottoman structure, so I had to get creative with pleats as I pulled it and stapled it to the underside. Guys – it wasn’t pretty. One other thing I had to contend with were the pockets on the coat – which I didn’t take off because as I started to rip them apart, I realized it left a weird gap in the fur. So they stayed – which means my end product will have little gathers where the pockets are. All this to say, this piece will never be symmetrical or perfect – but I figure fur is an imperfect medium to start with right?
Once I had it stapled, I screwed in my hardware plates and glued a simple scrap of cotton to the bottom to cover the loose edges of the fur (I made sure to make little slits where the legs would screw in, so the fabric wouldn’t gather too much.) Then I let it sit for a day. The fur is SUPER stretchy/saggy – whatever you want to call it. So after a day, I went back in with my staple gun and tightened up all the spots that needed it.
I ended up painting the legs white and that’s it!
It is the newest addition to the sun room corner that I’ve been working on for the past month or so. With a tray on top, it works well as a little side table.
And obviously without the tray, it’s an ideal foot stool or spot to perch. It also may be a little weird? I don’t know. For now, it’s quirky enough to stay, and it’s very soft.
What do you think? Weird? Quirky? TERRIBLE? Upcycling can be a gamble sometimes.
Before you go – guess what is actually SCHEDULED for next week? Our kitchen reveal. That’s right folks. It’s done like dinner and we’re ready to show it off 🙂 Hope you’ll come back then… even if I accidentally grossed you out by talking about furry deer nut sacks.
This post may contain affiliate links. Click here to see our full disclosure policy.
