Call it a professional deformation, but I actually enjoy wandering through large furniture shops and analysing different furniture pieces combining them with colours and the overall design of my rooms. It happens for me to completely change the way my rooms are designed and arranged in just a few hours. In my mind, that is. And while doing some online searching for some furniture pieces and doing this type of fun room-transformation, I stumbled upon something I simply knew I must have: an ottoman. A piece of furniture so versatile in both design purposes and practicality, it’s just unbelievable how I didn’t got one sooner.

Ottomans are generally large (because I want a large one, although there are some really cute smaller ones on the market) pieces of furniture in various shapes that serve mainly as an addition to a sofa. It’s the piece of furniture you would use to lift your legs while you sit on your sofa and read a newspaper or drink a cup of coffee or tea. Or, you can use it as an extra seating or as a table for placing a tray. There are endless combinations for incorporating an ottoman in your interior design and I’m going to share a few of my favourite with you. But first, a short overview on ottomans.

Shapes and Materials

The ottoman can come in various shapes: it can be a round one that goes perfectly well with a wedge or rounded corners. Rectangular ottomans are great with an L-shaped sectional. Because the L-shape sectional is large and more people can sit on it, it’s only natural that the ottoman should be of larger size as well. As for texture and tone, you can find upholstered ottomans in various materials including leather. A leather ottoman though, can’t complement just about any type of sectional or sofa; it has to be in the combination with leather elements. On the plus side, leather is really easy to clean.

How Do You Use an Ottoman?

• Some room designs simply don’t support a classic table. Those would be the specially designed sofa corners, or living rooms with a lot of leather elements designed with a combination of traditional and modern furniture pieces. And although it’s not by basic manners, we all do it: we like being able to lift our feet while watching TV. And an ottoman is just made for that. Also, if you have a sofa corner you use only to sit away in silence and have your coffee or tea in peace, an ottoman would be the perfect two-way element: great for a tray with the coffee/tea set and for resting your feet.

• The bedroom can also benefit from this amazing piece of furniture. Especially storage ottomans; you can use these to store blankets and pillows, and have them as an extra seat for either sitting or placing a tray with candles. Who doesn’t love scented candles beautifying their bedroom?

• And finally, every woman’s dream: a spacious wardrobe where all your precious pieces of clothing and shoes are perfectly placed on shelves and hangers, clearly visible and ready for picking. A large ottoman at the center of this space will be of great use when you try out outfits and your husband is judging what looks best on you. Or, simply as a decoration for that otherwise large space.