DIY Storage Ottoman (phase 1)

Last night I was in the mood to make something. The past couple of months I have been focusing all my design energy on other people, which I enjoy doing, but our apartment is in a seriously unfortunate state. I cringe every time I hear myself say, when we get the apartment situated we'll have you over. It's been over 2 months! People are catching on to me. So one big void in our living room these days was a coffee table. Poor Mr. Sabbe has wanted a sectional since the day we were married, but we have never lived in a house with a living room large enough for a sectional. He wants us both to be able to lay down without touching. #1 I'm not a huge fan of huge furniture and #2 I like touching. So the new sofa, again, is not very large. And our compromise with this was, I told him I would make a comfy upholstered ottoman instead of getting a new coffee table. I said we could flip it around sectional style on movie nights and bingo! room for two, minimal touching.

All of my major projects happen impulsively. We gutted the bathroom of our last house because I was bored one Sunday afternoon while Mr. Sabbe was on call and decided to take a crowbar to it. (terrible wife, I know) So last night my husband went out for drinks with his other resident friends and I went to Home Depot, armed with this...

They now have my picture on the wall with a warning, beware of this woman.

It started with me building this to the side of one of my real projects (around 5 pm, my mind wanders)

And then I worked out how it would open and shut

And then I headed to Home Depot, sans husband.

Sidenote: If you are planning on asking someone to make a million tedious cuts for you at Home Depot, leave your husband at home. They believe a woman saying "wow, sorry, I didn't know it would be this much work. I don't have any tools, I live in a teeny tiny city apartment" far more than a man. All my cuts were free!

When my husband got home I laid out all of the pieces in a very organized way and asked him to please help me screw them together. Usually the man is not up for 9pm DIY projects, but I think my frugality + organization really impressed him. And after about 30 minutes it looked like this....

Remember the title, this is only phase one. It's not very pretty yet, but it's getting there. I am now on the hunt for some great, cleanable fabric. And so far I've only spent $30. The 4'x8' plywood was $20 and I used furniture legs I had previously purchased from this Ebay dealer for $8. When I am finished I will post a full tutorial and better photos. We're pretty excited about this project.

That piece behind the lid is another DIY in the works. Linds found a great piece of campaign furniture and was kind enough to send it my way. Thanks friend!