I’m always looking for a bit more storage and extra seating in my home. With this rustic denim DIY ottoman, I think I have a solution.

I love how practical and nifty this rolling storage ottoman is. When unexpected guests turn up it provides both seating and somewhere to quickly hide clutter.

The casters on the upcycled Ikea crate make it really easy to move around. However, watch it, if you have wooden floors like I do. The kids (big kids too) will end up riding it around the house. The wheels are really nippy.

Personalized DIY Rolling Storage Ottoman

Another wonderful thing about this rolling storage DIY ottoman, it’s that it’s upholstered with my old repurposed jeans. I have also stencilled the family name to the great to give it the personal touch.

I had great fun with this DIY ottoman project as it involved two of my favorite DIY’s upcycling denim and an Ikea hack.

Even though this was an IKEA hack as I used an IKEA crate for the main body of the rolling ottoman and I used IKEA castors. This DIY ottoman can be made with any sturdy wooden crate.

The top of the crate was upholstered in denim, but again this was very easy to do and a simple old jeans no-sew project. This is a very similar method to a footstool I reupholstered with a tea towel without sewing.

 

 This ottoman featured under O in the A to Z of denim crafts.
 
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What You Need To Make A DIY Rolling Storage Ottoman

• Wooden Crate – Did I mention this was an Ikea Hack? It is, in that I used an IKEA KNAGGLIG box
• IKEA RILL casters
• Dark wood wax
• Letter/number stencils 2″ high
• Sharpie Pen

For the Upholstered Denim Ottoman Lid

• Old pair of Jeans
• Scrap fabric same size as the lid
• Fabric glue
• Chipboard/plywood big enough to fit the top of the crate. Plus some scraps of wood for batons approx 2″ x 2″ and 12″ long.
• Upholstery foam for the top approx 2″ thick
• Spray adhesive
• Batting/wadding
• Staple gun

How to Make a Denim DIY Ottoman crate

1.First, assemble your IKEA KNAGGLIG crate according to the instructions. Or if you are repurposing an existing wooden crate makes sure it is sturdy.

2. Stencil the sides of the crate. This is so easy, I used a plastic letter stencil and a sharpie for this.

You can really personalize the ottoman by stencilling someone’s name on the crate. Our family name is Armstrong so I decided to stencil that on my crate.

TOP TIP: Just make sure you stencil the right way up, you may think that is obvious but I still manage to stencil things upside down at times.

3. The wood on the IKEA Knagglig crate is untreated. To protect the wood and to give it a more rustic and aged look, I rubbed the whole crate, inside and out with some dark furniture wax.

4. Next, fix the IKEA RILL casters to the base of the ottoman. As the base wood is not very thick you will need short wood screws for this.

Or even better drill small holes and use screws with bolts to attach the casters to the rolling storage ottoman.

Making The Ottoman Upholstered Lid

5. Next, to transform the lovely stencilled crate on wheels into a useful storage ottoman, you will need to add a lid.

Firstly, measure the top of the crate. Then, cut a piece of plywood to these measurements so that it sits nicely on the top of the crate. #

At the same time saw 2 batons of wood about 1″ shorter than the width of the plywood lid.

6. Next, using the plywood lid as a guide measure and cut a piece of foam the same size. Then, use spray adhesive to stick the foam block to the plywood.

7. Next, cover the foam and plywood lid on the DIY ottoman with batting/wadding. You will first need to cut a piece of wadding so that it is large enough to wrap around the foam.

The wadding is then secured to the underside of the lid by using the staple gun.

8. Next, cut the waistband off the jeans and the legs at the crutch. Then, cut the leg of the jeans up the seam to open them up into one large piece of denim fabric.

8. Next, wrap the large piece of denim around the batting and staple gun it to the underside of the plywood lid.

Then take the waistband of the jeans and glue it around the outside edge of the ottoman lid. Use pins to hold the waistbands in place whilst the glue dries. Depending on the size of the repurposed jeans, you may need to use the waistbands from 2 pairs of jeans to cover the circumference of the DIY ottoman.

The waistband edging is just a little touch to add more interest and character to the storage ottoman.

9. To tidy up the underside of the storage ottoman lid, I used a piece of fabric to hide the edges. I simply cut a piece of fabric to size and glued it to the underside of the lid. Again using pins to hold it in place whilst the glue dried.

10. Finally, to finish off the rolling storage ottoman add the battens to the underside of the lid. I used two wood screws to attach the battens to the lid underside.

The purpose of these battens is to stop the ottoman lid from sliding around.

the finished DIY Denim Ottoman..

The denim and the stencilling give the rolling storage ottoman a rustic industrial feel. I love it in my lounge but it would look great in a teen bedroom or man cave.

It can be personalized by stencilling a name and year onto the wooden crate. Also, I find the storage bit under the lid really handy for magazines and general clutter when I want a quick tidy up.

The ottoman lives in our family room not only does it provide handy storage but extra seating when all the family is visiting.

This handy extra footstool also looks great with the upcycled waistband no-sew denim rug I made for the same room.

Yield: Ottoman on wheels with storage

DIY Rolling Storage Ottoman

Print

This is an IKEA hack that uses an old pair of jeans to make a unique DIY rolling storage ottoman. This ottoman is also personalized with some fun industrial style stenciling on the side. It looks fabulous in a teen bedroom or a man cave. Not only is it great for extra storage but it provides additional seating for unexpected guests.

Prep Time 30 minutes

Active Time 2 hours

Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes

Difficulty Medium

Materials

• Old pair of jeans
• IKEA KNAGGLIG crate or a sturdy wooden crate
• IKEA Rill castors
• Foam block
• Wadding
• Plywood and wood battens
• Fabric glue
• Wood wax
• Letter Stencil
• Black Sharpie

Tools

• Saw
• Screwdriver
• Staple gun
• Scissors

Instructions

1. Assemble the crate, stencil name on the side using sharpies and plastic letter stencil
2. Cover the assembled crate with dark wood wax
3. Attach the castors to the base of the storage ottoman crate using screws
4. Measure the top of the crate and cut plywood to size
5. Stick foam block onto the plywood lid and wrap in wadding. Secure the wadding to the underside of the lid with a staple gun.
6. Cover the DIY ottoman lid in denim, using a staple gun.
7. Trim the edge of the lid by gluing jeans waistbands around the circumference
8. Tidy up the underside of the rolling storage ottoman lid with a piece of fabric glued to the underside.
9. Finish off the DIY ottoman lid by adding to battens to the underside. Secure the battens with screws, this will stop the lid from slipping around.

Recommended Products

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  IKEA crate

If you want to see more crate ideas you should check out my DIY nightstand from a wine box. I have also upcycled wicker basket storage for Christmas.

I also have a tutorial on how to make an easy DIY footstool with an old pair of jeans and hairpin legs.

If you are wondering what to do with the pockets leftover from the repurposed jeans you used for this DIY ottoman lid, check out this tutorial for a great denim pocket organizer.

If you are looking for something even simpler some individual hanging denim storage pockets, or more handy denim storage ideas.