the red bungalow: ottoman

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A few months ago I ran across these gorgeous Flocks Poufs made by Christien Meindertsma (pictured above). I thought these were so fabulous, but unfortunately a little (ok A LOT) out of my price range, as they go from $1,000 to $10,980 depending on the color and size. These little modern and cozy poufs really inspired me, and instantly got me obsessed over the idea of having a shop FULL of traditional knits spun in a modern way.

As my brain started running away with this, I grabbed my sketchbook and drew up images of several different patterns for knitted pillows, ottomans, benches, and chairs. I was so excited about my sketches, because honestly I've never seen any knitted FURNITURE and I was wondering why this had never been done. Before I knew it (fast-forward a few weeks) I found myself sitting on the Living Room floor surrounded by my drill, knitting needles, a huge pile of yarn, lumber, and all other essentials to build knitted furniture (ok...to clarify, I made several trips to Home Depot & JoAnns before I had everything I really needed, and ended up even making my own very large knitting needles to get that modern/sculptural texture to give my designs a one-of-a-kind look....but that's a whole different blog for a different day).

With so many ideas in my sketchbook, it was hard to focus on just one thing, but I decided to start with a knitted ottoman that could also double as extra seating (a great combo for an urban dweller with limited space). I did all of the knitting first and then constructed a wood frame to provide extra durability, and added high-density foam to make a comfortable seat cushion. My ottoman went through a few different renditions, but here is the final result:

My ottomans in charcoal & sky blue

a closer look at the charcoal

(the close-up)

In the end I was very happy with how these turned out and am so pleased to be adding these to my shop (which I'm hoping to have open by the end of the week). I think if I made a larger size as well, it could function as a cool, modern coffee table, but I haven't attempted this one yet. I think these would look amazing against wooden floors and next to textiles or wallpapers with awesome modern prints (it would be a really fabulous contrast).

Of course, not everyone would want a charcoal or sky blue ottoman, so I'm going be offering a variety of colors as shown below. What do you think?