How to Choose a Bed Skirt
Bedskirt, dust skirt, dust ruffle…whatever you want to call it, for most beds, a bedskirt helps create a finished look. It can contribute to the style of the room from tailored to romantic, formal to casual.
And by “most beds”. I mean the situation where you have a metal frame that holds a box spring (sometimes referred to as a foundation) which is then topped by a mattress. These 3 parts are the essential elements of a standard bed. This would then be finished with a decorative headboard and sometimes footboard.
There are other types of beds - wood frames with side rails and slats that hold the box spring, and upholstered beds with a similar slat construction. There are also the newly popular motion beds that have a metal bar at the foot that keeps the mattress in place when the head is raised. These specialty bed types require more custom solutions if a dust skirt is to be added. They can be fabricated with a slot for the bar, or attached to the back side of the side rails and footboard with velcro.
And there are also platform beds, which, as the name implies, have the mattress on a platform rather than a box spring. These beds are generally more modern in style, sit lower to the floor, and call for more streamlined bedding like a simple duvet cover.
Bed skirts sometimes get maligned as unnecessary and sloppy, and understandably so as there are ubiquitous cheap versions that fall apart and impart more of a slumlord vibe than anything resembling elegance. And the words dust and ruffle in the same sentence conjure visions of dust tumbleweeds and frou frou fussy. I get it. But hear me out - there are numerous advantages to a bed skirt.
Bed Skirt Advantages
Hides an ugly metal bed frame
Allows hidden under bed storage.
Hides any bed risers added to the feet for more underbed storage or a higher bed.
Adds decorative value to the room
Dust skirts are not limited to white - they can be patterned, textured, trimmed, or solid. They can be filmy voile, rustic burlap, tailored linen, formal damask or silk, matelasse, or printed or embroidered fabric. Much like a window valance, they can be anything you can imagine!
For a proper bed, I am personally a fan of the classically elegant look of a nice quality dust skirt topped with a coverlet or blanket cover or duvet. It allows for a nice combination of textiles, and mixing and matching patterns and textures for added interest. The bed is the largest and most prominent piece of furniture in a bedroom so attention to detail here is important!
Dust skirt sizes
Dust skirts are sized by the mattress size (crib/twin/Xlong twin/full/queen/king) and by the “drop” which is the length of the skirt. Most ready made dust skirts have a 14” drop, though some vendors offer a longer 18” drop. Custom dust skirts are, obviously, sized to any length needed. To determine what drop you need, measure from the top edge of the box spring to the floor.
Also, if you are purchasing a twin, be sure to check if you have a regular twin or an Xlong twin mattress. They are different lengths and a standard twin bed skirt will not cover an Xlong twin box spring
Please note: a twin daybed needs a bed skirt specifically made for a daybed - this will have two short and one long side rather than two long and one short.
Ideally, a dust skirt should just kiss the floor - too short looks cheap and doesn’t hide the utilitarian frame very well, and too long looks a bit messy.
Dust skirt construction
Fabric
Dust ruffles have decorative fabric for the part that shows and less expensive fabric for the decking - the part that is hidden under the mattress. The least expensive ready made dust ruffles have decking fabric that I swear has a self-destruct sequence like a Mission Impossible assignment…they are made of some material that melts if it gets near an iron, tears at the slightest provocation, and disintegrates into shredded flakes as it ages.
WHY? WHY don’t they just use sheeting for the decking?? I mean how much money can they possibly be saving with this tissue paper stuff? Anyway, better quality ready made dust skirts have better decking and will last longer than 10 minutes, so please don’t just buy the cheapest thing you can find.
When we make custom dust skirts, we use high quality drapery lining for the decking and add a 3” band of the decorative skirt fabric to the edge of the decking so none of the decking is ever visible even if the mattress shifts a bit. This makes it possible to do a tucked in coverlet or blanket and maintain a beautifully finished look.
Please note: this post contains affiliate links meaning I may make a small commission on any purchases at no additional cost to you.
Style
Dust skirts can be tailored with kick pleats at the corners and center of the sides, box pleated, gathered, or some combination of those things. They can have decorative trim added to the edge, they can be layered, they can have a shaped hem with scallops or points. They are basically a window valance only for your bed?!
It is rare to find a ready made dust skirt that is lined, and lighter weight ones may show a bit of what you were aiming to cover up. One possible solution is to layer a pair of dust skirts to effectively add a lining layer. You can layer a tailored plain white dust skirt under your decorative one like a slip.
We always specify lining and interlining for custom made bed skirts. This gives them a nice weight and softer folds. Weights are sometimes sewn into the hems if needed.
If you have a footboard, you will need what is called “split corners” on your dust skirt. This is exactly what it sounds like - the fabric skirt has a finished slit at the bed corners to allow for where the footboard attaches to the frame. If you have no footboard, the fabric is seamed to continue around the corner.
Installation
Getting a dust skirt onto a bed and replacing the mattress without shifting the skirt askew is generally a 2 person job. You have to lift the mattress off to install the dust skirt and then lower it back into place without sliding it and moving the skirt. A neat trick? Use these squiggly upholstery pins to secure the dust skirt to the box spring and keep it from shifting when you move the mattress into place or while changing the bedding!
We love to repeat the dust skirt fabric and detailing in either pillow shams or as an upholstered headboard for a finished elegant look. We used a tailored ready made matelasse dust skirt and had a matching headboard upholstered using fabric from the matching matelasse coverlet for this bedroom makeover
Below are some nice ready made bedskirt options (click on image for link to purchase)
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How to layer bedding and pillows for a designer look every time