apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

If I had an old mattress topper, I would use it in my upcoming couch renovation to add softness to the currently hard back (I really want to ditch the loose pillows across the back). Do you have any upholstery that needs cushioning or maybe a coffee table you'd like to turn into an ottoman? There are so many fun possibilities...

I would definitely cut them up. Stack up a couple of large foam squares and cover them with fabric to make some floor cushions. Or make couch pillows.

I have an egg crate style one that works really well as a guest matress if it's folded in half. A 2" thick one would probably work all by itself.

How about cutting it up and using it for comfy shoe insoles?

I love the pet bed idea. The local Humane Society shelter always needs donated beds if you could figure out a simple cover . . .

I have a similar problem - with a full size feather bed. What should I, can I, do with it? Any suggestions?

Thanks!

I used an old one to make a padded headboard, in part because I couldn't find sheet foam on the bolt wide enough at craft/fabric stores available to me at the time.

Oh yeah, hack it up!

word is an electric knife is the easiest way to cut foam. Does grandma have one you can borrow?

I'd use it to fortify exisiting cushions, dog/cat bed, floor cushions, seat cushions for wood frame chairs.
Or to fortify a hide-a-bed mattress... those suck! memory foam is the best. I personally snooze on a tempurpedic and LOVE it.

One of my greatest street finds was a stack of unwanted memory and egg crate style foam pieces. We have two dog beds with removable, washable covers and the interior contents were shot. We cut the foam pieces to size, stacked them, put them in twin sized waterproof mattress covers from Target ($9), folded the excess underneath and slid them back into the washable covers. The dog beds are now more comfortable than my own luxury mattress and the foam pads are impervious to anything gross that might seep in from the covers. We went this route because our dogs are big, dirty, rough and tumble types; but you could easily just cut to size and follow the Velcro-edges route illustrated in a recent AT Post using a furry Ikea carpet.

If you don't have pets- I'd buy all the cute handmade pillow covers I could find (search Etsy) and would use that to fill them. Then I'd give them as gifts.

For the pet beds for the Humane Society suggestion-- how about thrift store pillow cases?

Dog beds, or dog beds for friends if you are without pets would be fantastic... Good dog beds are a true luxury as they are soooo expensive!
The humane society took all of my egg crate from me when we switched to memory foam so they could use them as beds with pillowcases over them.
And then when we switched to a larger thickness of foam we gave the old one to the battered womens shelter here in town!

franny, thats what i was going to suggest! i think that'd be a great donation: cut the foam to slip inside a pillowcase and use a quick stitch to sew the case closed. i'm sure the doggies would appreciate it!

If you know places where homeless people sleep, or search for stuff, leave it for them to find. If it is too big for that, cut it into two parts and help two people.

I leave clothing that isn't good enough to donate in bags on the street and it is ALWAYS gone the next morning.

Unless someone here has suggested a project you are dying to tackle, its probably best to just dispose of it. Decluttering is a big part of keeping your home happy and healthy.

thanks for the suggestions. i don't have any pets or any upholstering jobs, but i like the idea of using it for a headboard. i don't have one and i've wanted to get/make one for awhile. i have thought of cutting the topper up and making a bunch of pillows. it would be a good way for me to use my sewing machine and i'm all for that.

We put 1" or 2" foam in behind blank stretched/unframed canvas, the foam just sits in the frame behind the canvas. Then we pin photos, art or maps to the canvas, we love that look -- but the reason for the foam is it seems to really help with sound dampening.

A nice tufted headboard.

Just take a cheap plank of wood, glue the mattress topper, staple some fabric, voilà!