Budget Decorating: Using Ottomans

When it comes time to decorate and arrange furniture in your living room or family room don’t overlook the power of what a pair of identical ottomans can do for the room. They can do a whole lot more than simply be a place to put your feet.

When decorating a living room with furniture, most of us add a sofa, chairs and tables when putting the room together. These are the basic pieces of furniture for a living room, but there are two more pieces of furniture that you should seriously consider adding, actually one item, but two of them.

Today’s forgotten decorating secret is a furniture arranging idea that I learned back in a college design course called: Furniture Arranging 101.

My Living Room Furniture Floor Plan Lightbulb Moment

Do you have a pair of identical ottomans anywhere in your home?

Every week in class we would have to create a furniture floor plan for a variety of rooms. We did this the old-fashioned way with graph paper and little green plastic furniture templates to keep everything to scale. We arranged furniture in rooms of all sizes and shapes.

We didn’t have computers back then. :-) Today planning a furniture layout for a room is much easier done with the click of a mouse and furniture arranging apps.

Decorating styles and trends were not a factor for this furniture arranging class, only space, balance, line and function.

Coming up with a furniture layout could be rather challenging especially if the room we were assigned was long and narrow or an odd-shape.

One eye-opening lesson for me was when I got back a living room furniture arranging assignment from the professor. She had made a notation on my plan stating – “instead of two chairs by the coffee table – think about placing two identical ottomans in their place” and then listed a few reasons why.

All I could think was WOW and why didn’t I think of doing that.

Ever since that assignment I have never forgotten this lesson. A pair of identical ottomans are the most overlooked and under-appreciated pieces of living room furniture.

It doesn’t matter what you call them… ottomans, cubes, poufs or hassocks or what they are upholstered with or their style. When you decorate your space by placing two identical ottomans side by side in a room – you create not only decorative interest, but also versatility and multi-function.

Where to Put Ottomans?

Ottomans are not just for placing feet. You can use ottomans to sit on. Think of them just as you would when placing a chair in the room.

• A pair of identical ottomans can be placed across from a sofa and coffee table.
• In front of a fireplace
• Under a console table
• In place of a dining table bench.

Reasons Why You Should Consider Adding a Pair of Identical Ottomans to your Living Room

• If your living room is in need of a little something extra, but you are not sure what that is, consider two identical ottomans placed by the coffee table to accent the conversational grouping of furniture. They add seating but don’t close up the space visually.
  • Imagine how different the room above would look if there were two chairs with backs placed where the ottomans are. It would not look as inviting, but would feel like you were being blocked from entering.

• Ottomans don’t have to be paired with a chair as only a place to rest your feet. They can be moved to become seating in the room.

• Ottomans can be used as a coffee table substitute. Place a tray on top of one of the ottomans to hold drinks and other smaller items.

• Ottomans are light in weight making them easy to move where needed when you need seating arranged differently or extra seating and then easily moved back. For instance, they can be easily moved around a kitchen table when extra seating is needed for game night. Adding casters to them make it even easier to move them.

I have had these two ottomans in my living room for the past 22 years. I bought them for $75 a piece at Sears.

• Ottomans are easy to make slipcovers for, making them easy to transform seasonally or on a whim.

Every few years I make new slipcovers for mine. I like all of them. Sadly the ones on the bottom became thread-bare with age and washings. I no longer have them.

• Ottomans are affordable, you can find them for as little as $50 a piece.

• If you need an accessible, hidden place to store items like toys. Make sure to get a set that opens up for storage.

As you can see, a pair of identical ottomans are very versatile pieces of furniture for a living or family room.

How to Arrange Living Room Furniture with a TV and Fireplace.

Placing identical ottomans in front of a fireplace or TV offers low seating that doesn’t block the view of the fireplace or TV from other sections of the room.

When the conversation is around the sofa seating area and coffee table, the ottomans can easily be moved for guests to sit and cozy up in the conversational area.

Ottomans have no backs which makes them the perfect seating choice when you want to make a small room feel more spacious.

If you don’t have room in your living room to add a pair of ottomans, you can still benefit from them by placing them under a console table until needed in another room.

Some ottomans are long and high. This type can be moved when extra seating is needed around a dining room table when entertaining family and friends and for holiday dinners and celebrations where one bench seat or two chairs are not enough.

Do Ottomans Have to Match the Sofa or Chairs?

Many furniture stores sell ottomans paired with a chair or that are made to match or coordinate with another piece of furniture in the room, but this is not necessary. In fact, when ottoman’s have a pattern or color of their own, they become accent pieces that will create more interest to a room.

How to Make DIY Ottoman Ideas

When I first started this blog, I re-made an ottoman that I created for my book Instant Decorating. If you have a few basic DIY skills, an ottoman is fairly easy to make using thrift store tables, barrels, even galvanized tubs as the base. Check out my Pinterest board for creative and clever DIY ottoman ideas to find inspiration on how you can make your own to keep costs down or to simply create something unique for your home.

Affordable Ottomans To Buy

I searched online and found a few ottomans that are budget friendly. They are all different sizes and shapes, but any of them will add style and versatility to your room.

No matter what your decorating style is or the size ottomans you add to your space – identical ottomans may be just the thing that has been missing from your space.  Don’t overlook this handy piece of furniture for saving space, movability, storage, or just making a statement around the fireplace or coffee table in the room.

Have you read all the Secrets That Designers Never Forget?

If not you can find any you missed here:

• The Secret To Hanging Art Like a Designer Does
• What Most Homeowners Forget to Consider When Decorating
• Feeling at Home – The Best Ways to Decorate
• Don’t Forget to add an Accent
• Designers Use This When They Need Both a Table and Storage