My wife and I bought an ottoman seven years ago; it was upholstered in some sort of faux leather that was immediately torn by the vacuum cleaner. Over the years, the top began to crack, and more tears appeared on the sides.

Buying another ottoman wasn’t in our budget, but neither was staring at the ugly cracked vinyl any longer, so we reupholstered it in some more durable microfiber fabric. Fixing furniture can seem scary, but it’s not much more than wood, foam, and fabric.

Here’s the top of the ottoman after removing the old upholstery.

I just stretched a 50″ square of microfiber underneath it, stapled in the center of each side, and then stretched and stapled along each side. We kept it simple by electing to fold the corners over instead of sewing them to fit.

Tack on some cambric for that professional look and feel, and the top is done!

Here’s the base of the ottoman with the drawers removed, the top unscrewed, and the old upholstery torn off.

The sides were a little more complicated, but not much more than a bunch of staple-stretch-staple steps.

Screw the feet back on, and it looks like a turtle on its back.

Flip it over, and here’s the finished product! We left the drawer faces alone, since they haven’t deteriorated (yet).

Given that it’s been six years since my last adventure in upholstery, I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.