Secret Hiding Places

A few years ago, during the heyday of shows like Trading Spaces and Changing Rooms, they were always making upholstered storage cubes. I figured I already had storage BINS, so why not throw some kind of cover on them and call them ottomans? Christine from Christine Sews recently had the same idea and asked about my version, so here it is!

As it turned out, Isabella was sure I'd made them for her, so I indulged her by locating them near windows. Now she has two cushy perches from which she can gaze upon her bird friends. Even when I pulled this one away from the window to take pictures, she insisted on demonstrating its real use.

Ugh, I hadn't noticed how faded this one's gotten. Well, ignore that. Just look at how it's made.

I started with a thick piece of foam, cut to fit the top using an electric carving knife. Stick that to the top of the bin, using heavy duty adhesive. I left that up to my husband, and he used something he brought home from the hardware store. Right before pulling on the slipcover, I wrapped batting around the foam, just to smooth out any sharpish edges.

The cover itself was pretty self-explanatory. Use the top of the bin as a pattern for the top. Then you need a long skinny piece for the "cushion" part. The skirt is just another long strip which I pleated at each corner. The only tricky part was hiding the seam in one of the pleats. I made these before I officially learned to sew, so they're obviously not that complicated!

Of course the best thing about these is you can load them up with junk and no one has to know!