Swapped Cocktail Table for Two Cute Ottomans

9 years ago

I wasn't entirely happy with the distressed cream colored coffee table in the front room of our new downstairs. It's very heavy and would be difficult to move if people want to use the wii and need all the available space. But I still wanted something there for drinks and snacks that was easy to move. I'd originally wanted two ottomans that could be moved around easily, and of all the ones I saw liked these best. They are genuine pleather :-) "with a nice shape, sturdy but very light, AND they were very inexpensive, so if we get tired of them they'll be off to the jumble sale at the church.

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Comments (18)

peony4
9 years ago
Very nice! The tops look a bit rounded... be sure that drinks and snacks don't end up spilled all over your lovely rug.
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Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you, peony :-)

I ordered two trays to sit atop the ottomans when needed for drinks, they are brass or bronze with a pierced gallery edge. One is 13" in diameter and the other is 15". When not in use they will go in a basket under the daybed. And I bought thick cotton jersey sheets for the cushions and wonderful lightweight cotton quilts in a white and beige zebra print so they are ready for a sleepover. And all the bedding fits nicely in the baskets underneath.

Now still waiting on five botanicals for next room. Mirror for bathroom, shower curtain, and wallpaper!
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I have always heard when using a bench ottoman with a sofa take 1/2 the length of the sofa so it the sofa is 88" the ottoman would be 44" long. In your case you have two perpendicular sofas. If you were to follow this reasoning and you wanted one square ottoman the ottoman should be 44" by 44". I have also heard that many architects and designer employer the "Golden Ratio" to determine the most pleasing size for a rectangle. But quite frankly I am not sure how you would calculate this in your case. Perhaps other readers could answer this question. You could look on Goggle for information about the "Golden Ratio". What you might want to do is layout various rectangles on the floor and see which one looks best. You could even make a cardboard template. Keep in mind if you have leather sofas and want a leather ottoman, that a hide of leather is only so large and you may have to have one or two seams in the top. For example it would be nearly impossible to find a clean leather hide that is 56" square and even 52" square, if you wanted a top without a seam. You might find one that is 44" square. Another good option for a large cocktail ottoman would be a tufted ottoman, these are commonly available. After you purchase the ottoman you might even look for a removable tray for the top.
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Hi again all, and thanks for so many thoughtful comments. The drink issue is definitely something to consider, and I've got it covered pretty well except for the instance (rare) where a third person sits in the middle of the couch. I'd just have to hope that the tray would hold that drink ok, or that they would just hold on to it. The surface of the ottoman is actually pretty level, so the tray would actually do the job, I think, unless there was an unusual amount of activity going on. Otherwise I have side tables for all of the other seating. If I didn't have room for those, I'd probably reconsider the ottoman altogether. Debbimc, thank you for noticing the rug. It is an old Karastan I got on ebay several years back, and I do love it. The pattern is called Hunting Scene, I think, and it still shows up on ebay from time to time. I am such a fan of Karastan rugs; they are beautiful and wear like iron. This process has been great for me. I love my coffee table, but I was in PB a couple of weeks ago, saw it on the floor, and just had to try it. (30 day return policy helps) Now the mood in the room is more relaxed and, well, inviting. Along with how the space looks, a room should be about how you FEEL when you are in it, and somehow, that ottoman seems to make people feel good. That being said, I'm sure five big barcaloungers would make us feel good, but we also want things to look nice and have visual interest, so therein lies the search for the room that can do both. That's why this forum is so helpful, and fun.
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I did more furniture shoving and will post new pics after Thanksgiving. I am getting closer, but things didn't go as planned. Putting the floral chairs together (either at right angles or facing the same way) felt like TOO MUCH FLORAL. Shoving the piano didn't help because the room is so narrow and it broke the piano's alignment with the recessed lighting. We also discovered that we really liked having the rocker where it was because it is so light and easy to shove around. But, going off of your suggestions, here is what DID work. I put glass side tables on either end of the couch and put red ceramic table lamps on both of them. This looks cool and eliminates the sense that the couch was half on/half off the window. I swapped the round glass side table (you can see it in this OLD pic) with a small red, wooden table that has a marble checkerboard built into it. I put the tall ORB tablelamp (that you also can see in this OLD pic) on the checkerboard table I will replace the lamp shade with something modern looking, perhaps this. . . For the other floral chair, I brought in a wooden octagonal side table from our den. (see the table in the left corner of this OLD pic.) I put a smaller ORB lamp ontop of this table and will get a new lampshade similar to the one above. So, in short, we have two red chairs with blackish-ORB table lamps to the left of the piano. To the right of the piano, we have the couch with two red table lamps and the black rocker. In terms of the rug, I moved it to the right a few inches per Les' suggestions. I also ordered some samples of FLOR carpet squares and am thinking that a muted 4 tone checker board (ivory to wheat) could work (and pick up on the pattern from the checkerboard table). We would put a brightly colored rug by the front door. By the fireplace, I have the third (much smaller) red floral chair, the new ottoman tuffet (which might not need recovering after all), and the small black wooden chair shown in the old pic. Anyway, I'll post pics later. I am getting closer, thanks to all your suggestions.
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This made me think of a hotel room we stayed in last year in New York. The Ottoman was round and could put a Tray on it or it could be pulled into two pieces so could be separated for people on different ends of the sectional. It worked great with our family and it was in blue. I was told you could have it custom made where I live for $500 to $750 but ended up finding one at Home Sense that was simpler. Found this picture online and in the other one excuse my family but you can see how the ottoman splits.
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louislinus
9 years ago
Very cute! I used to have a tray on an ottoman for a coffee table and it worked great.
User
Original Author
9 years ago
Well, I stand corrected. I was throwing the boxes away and retrieved the literature from one and it seems they are leather after all. I'm a little disappointed. As a child I loved the cartoon Naugahyde creature and was sort of thinking of these that way. Hmmfph.
Holly- Kay
9 years ago
They are cute. I would love to see the trays you are using on them.
User
Original Author
9 years ago
I will post pictures when they arrive. They are from a new catalog called Birch Lane. The quality is difficult to judge from a photo.......we shall see.
neetsiepie
9 years ago
Love them. I think you're right about swapping the coffee table for them. They're cheery and will definitely be more versatile. Good job!
cat_mom
9 years ago
I like those even better!
jaynes123_gw
9 years ago
Cute, cute, cute- love the arched sides, so stylish , they certainly dont look inexpensive.
kam76
9 years ago
Super cute! Love the color. Where did you get those botanicals? I love them!
patricianat
9 years ago
Love, love, love them and leather is better. You would have had to kill all those little nauga's in order to get their hyde. ;-) So you only had to get big old beefy hides from already digested meat. Again, I love them.
loribee
9 years ago
They are so cute and add a great pop of color!
User
Original Author
9 years ago
I am glad everyone likes them as much as I do!

Kam, I ordered the botanicals online from a place in Australia called Empirical Style,. They are very easy to work with despite the distance.
ttodd
9 years ago
I love that room so much! Always loved that color scheme for yrs but was one that I could never pull off on my own due to my innate personal color drive so I love living vicariously through beautiful red, green & cream rooms like yours!
Sueb20
9 years ago
Love those little ottomans. I could use something similar...mind if I ask where you found them?
User
Original Author
9 years ago
Sue they are in the Grandinroad catalog, which is a subsidiary of Frontgate. They have a mind boggling array of ottomans, all very reasonably priced. These were just $149 each, although prices go up from here none are really pricey. It is surprisingly well made, and I think the oversize nail head trim is great--- same vibe but less busy. They have a round turquoise one and a square burnt orange one in this same range and many, many others.
User
Original Author
9 years ago
Thanks, The Foxes Pad! I do the very same thing with other peoples' color schemes, especially all the blues and silvers. And your wonderful home office is still one of my very favorite GW rooms!
Holly- Kay
9 years ago
KSWL, I just started receiving Birch Lane catalogs. I will look for them. I love pretty trays!

Swapped Cocktail Table for Two Cute Ottomans

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