DIY Painted Canvas Pouf-Storage cube-Footstool

I know that’s kind of a complicated name but this little number can be used multiple ways so the only accurate name I could come up with was “Canvas Pouf-Storage Cube-Footstool.” 

And if you are the kind of person to stand on your furniture (yeah me too) instead of finding a ladder in the garage well then we can add step stool to the list too!

I have been looking for a couple foot stools or small seats that I can use for extra seating in my living room.
So far (yes, that is until today!) I couldn’t find anything that I liked.

And was uber-thrifty.

The mini makeover I have been giving my living room for Spring seems to be taking a relaxed eclectic fee
with a 70’s vibe.
I am totally addicted to plants right now, and as a recovering plant killer it’s fairly impressive that they have made it this long under my care.

I painted this green dresser, listed her for sale after dubbing her “the green machine” and quickly realized that she belonged along a long wall in my living room.  Just what was needed, a delicious pop of color.  That was the first big change.

check out the Chalk Painted Dresser tutorial here

see the before and after Copper Floor Lamp Makeover here

Next came a “new” lamp and the chair you will see soon, the yellow chair is just there for the picture.
But we still have the extra seating dilemma…

I have the brown sectional (I am counting the days until the sectional is replaced by something I really love) it works for now, but doesn’t have a lot of personality.  The dogs like to sleep on it, and I am pretty sure the kids jump on it when I am not looking.

So, lots of fun pillows and a stack of Mexican Falsa blankets and the brown sectional will do a bit longer.

So onto the pouf idea.

I realized I had a half dozen of these fake leather black footstools that we have kept toys in for a while in our playroom, and have somehow ended up the garage.  Why does everything end up in the garage.

I can’t find my stuff, because there is other stuff in the way.  A hoarder prob I suppose.

JoAnn’s had some nice sturdy canvas on sale, and knowing that I may very well need canvas in the next 20 or so years I brought a few yards home.  And the idea to recover a few of these bad boys came about.

Here is what I used to recover these old footstools and turn them into new painted poufs for my living room:

Supplies:

• Footstool, or smallish ottoman you don’t mind recovering
• Sturdy white canvas (I used about 1 1/2 yards and had some left over)
• Hot glue
• Scissors
• Ruler
• Pencil
• Paint brush
• Acrylic paint colors of your choice, I used black

Directions:

Because I used a square foot stool to recover, there wasn’t a lot of measuring involved.  I decided to cover the lid and base separately so I could continue to store stuff inside if needed. 

I used my glue gun to attach the edge of the canvas to one corner of the stool and rolled the stool over, snugly wrapping the canvas around the base until it was covered.  I glued the edge down, then trimmed the excess from the top and bottom, leaving myself enough to fold under and secure with hot glue.  I did this on the underside as well as the top of the foot stool.  Now the base was completely covered and I moved onto the lid.  I gave myself enough material to have extra around the edges, using hot glue I folded the canvas under and secured it all around the edges, folding the corners in and gluing them down last.

Next was time to decorate (the fun part!) I used a ruler and pencil to make the shapes on the canvas, filling them in with acrylic paint once they were done.  I needed a brush that would make a nice sharp line so I used this flat brush.

When the canvas was dry it was ready to be put to use.
And I love it, it’s so nice to have easy to store extra seating, that doubles as storage too.

No more folding chairs needed when you have an impromptu soiree!
Unless they are really pretty, then use them too for sure.

So what do you think? Do you have any of these cubes laying around that are just begging for a makeover?

If you don’t want to paint your canvas, you can always use a heavy duty fabric that has a design you love (think ikat, denim, a beautiful bold floral, or even a lightweight rug) so many ideas!!

Thank you so much for creating with me today friend, until next time-