DIY Jute Rope Tire Ottoman

I don’t recall when or where the first time I saw the jute rope ottoman. One thing I remember about it is that I love how it looks. The first impression I had of the jute rope ottoman is it’s raw and natural look. It doesn’t look like anything that comes out from a factory. Second, I think it’s pretty rare and stands out. I honestly have never seen anybody that I’ve known or any place that I’ve gone to have this ottoman. Lastly, I’m one of those people who love to own or have something that does not fall under the mass production category.

One day my wish came true. I had to change two of tires on my car. So, I told the tire store attendant to keep the old tires for me. I found out later that they still charged me for the tire disposal. I did some research on the internet on “how to make rope tire ottoman” and learned that most of them were quite tricky for my skill level.

I’m neither an art person (even I tried by taking art classes for three years in a school) nor a DIY girl (never done a single scrapbook in my life). Most of the sites on the internet require a drill which I don’t have. Some of them recommend putting legs or wheels on it which is too complicated for me. I am not a DIY expert. I just wanted to do what I wanted to do, so I decided to do it my own way, easy, simple and for someone of non-proficiency.

List of the tools for Jute Rope Tire Ottoman

1. A used tire, my car is 2015 Mazda 3, and its tire is 29 inches diameter and 10 inches tall.

2. Two pieces of 18*18 (inches) round plywood.

3. A glue gun

4. One bag of 50 pcs. glue sticks (4 inches * 0.44 inches)

5. Three bundles of 3 – ply Natural Jute Rope, 1/2 inches thickness, and 98 feet length.

An estimated cost of one jute rope tire ottoman

Tire $ 0

Round plywood $ 11 * 2

Glue gun $ 14

Glue sticks $ 8

Jute Rope $ 17 * 3

Total $ 95

**** I bought the round plywood at Home Depot, Glue gun and Jute rope at Hobby Lobby, and glue sticks at Jo-Ann Fabrics. These stores have the coupon that you can use to save the cost. For example, I used 40% one item at regular price at Hobby Lobby to buy the Jute Rope. I made 3 days worth of trips to the store and saved around $20 on the three bundles of the rope. ****

Jute Rope Tire Ottoman Instruction

I promise you that the instruction that I’m going to tell you is the easiest way to make jute rope tire ottoman. Like I mentioned earlier that I’m not the DIY guru. I don’t like to do or follow anything that is too complex. All you need for this ottoman is a HOT GLUE GUN!! (no drill!!!) And yes, this kind of glue is strong enough to hold the plywood and jute rope on the tire. My husband weighs around 180 lbs., and the ottoman can handle his weight just fine.

Let’s start!!

1. Clean the tire with soap and let it dry. Make sure there is no dirt or any object that will be an obstacle of the adhesion.

2. Let the tire dry or if you are so excited to do it fast then you can use towels to dry it.

3. Heat the glue gun. Place the round plywood on the tire then squeeze the glue between around the edge of the wood and the tire. (Not sure how it works. Check on the Youtube video link on 1:20 (one minute, 20 seconds) and you’ll see how I did it.

4. Find the center of the plywood and apply a big patch of glue on it. Place the rope on the glue and work the rope in a spiral pattern. You’re going to repeat this step until you finish gluing and wrapping the rope and tire. You need to use lots and lots of glue, don’t be stingy with this process!!!

A Little trick to make the ottoman look perfect!!

If you find any gap between each row of the rope that shows the tire surface, just apply the glue between each row and move the newest row to the one before it and count from one to five. The rope will stick together and cover the undesired tire surface. Keep repeating the process until you reach the center of the bottom round plywood. Use a sharp knife or box cutter to cut the rope and put some glue at the end of the rope to secure it on the tire.

It might take a while to finish the tire ottoman. It took me around 6-8 hours, but it’s definitely worth for my time. There’s a bizarre thing that happened when I was doing the rope work on the tire. Most of the time I would get bored and tired of doing the same thing or process over and over. But instead of being boring, I felt a Zen sense of satisfaction and flow. I felt like I just created my own therapy session and came out with the beautiful, unique, and eco-friendly ottoman.