Customized hairpin leg ottoman

Dave had been talking about how he wanted a nice footstool so he can prop his feet up when he sits in his reading chair in the corner. I had first been thinking that I could make something from scratch fairly simply--get a square piece of wood and some padding, staple some fabric over it, then buy four hairpin legs and screw them in. Instant ottoman. Except the hairpin legs are kind of expensive, it seems.

So I set up an eBay saved search and within a few weeks found and purchased this one for the price of one hairpin leg. I wasn't too crazy about the fabric but that was an easy fix. I even had some left over from when I recovered the chair next to it so I was able to do it the next day instead of putting it off for weeks and weeks until I found what I wanted.

I turned the stool over and removed all the staples. (You can do this with a regular staple remover.) There was another piece of fabric on the bottom but I didn't take any photos of it.

Once all the staples were removed I simply peeled off the old fabric. The padding underneath was in good condition, thankfully, so I didn't feel any need to replace it.

I placed it on top of the new fabric like so, and began stapling each side, folding the raw edges under.

A close up of the staples. Pretty straightforward. I went around the legs though I suppose I could have cut out a notch.

Then I folded over the corners and stapled those, attached the bottom piece, and I was done within the hour.

It's just a tad too tall to fit underneath the chair when not in use, but looks just fine right next to it.