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Beginning in the Middle

DIY No-Sew Drop Cloth Bed Skirt

Budget· Decor· DIY· Historic Townhome

13 Jun

Hello again, friends.

Two posts in one week!  I think this is a record for us.

We finally had a chance to catch up on life after being super busy the last few months.  It’s hard to believe that we’ve renovated 4 bathrooms and a house this year!  We finished our Pearl St. bathroom renovation in February, then bought a historic townhome in German Village that we renovated and furnished, and just finished remodeling a client’s dated bathroom last week, too.  Even though we loved doing all of these projects, we’re loving this much needed break from the craziness just as much 😉

We’ve been posting lots of progress photos on Instagram, including some of the master bedroom at our Pearl St. project…

img_1240… and the master bedroom at our new townhome. (Update: see more photos of this room & the new bathroom we added here!)

01When we mentioned that we made the bed skirt ourselves out of painter’s drop cloths, and no sewing was involved, many of you asked for a tutorial.  Here goes!

Bryan started off by making a very basic bed frame out of plywood and 2×6’s.  It cost us about $50 and sits 18″ off the ground, allowing for storage underneath.  The headboard was a lucky $200 clearance find from Arhaus Outlet here in Columbus.  It was discounted because just the headboard was being sold, not the entire bed frame (which originally retailed at over $3,000!).

File_000

To snazz up the frame, we made a flowy, Restoration Hardware inspired bed skirt.  Between Michael’s and Home Depot, we were able to find everything we needed.  Total cost for us was under $50, since we had everything except for the cloths and tacks.

Materials Needed

  • Two 4×15 regular 8 oz. canvas drop cloths (see below on how to measure)
  • Tacks
  • Fabric scissors
  • An upholstery hammer (if you don’t have one, a regular small hammer will do the trick)
  • A 6×9 drop cloth for the top (optional)

Measuring for the Skirt

Before going shopping, it’s important to take into account 3 things: 1) the drop, or distance between the bottom of your mattress and the floor, 2) the length of your bed that the skirt is going to cover, and 3) the gathered length of fabric you’ll need.

1) Drop

We had an 18″ drop between the bottom of the mattress and the floor. We wanted the skirt to pool a bit at the bottom, so we added 2″ to account for that. We also knew we would need 2+” extra to attach it to the top of the frame, so we rounded our drop up to 24″ just to be safe.  That number also worked really well with our 4′ x 15′ drop cloth – we only had to cut it once down the middle.

2) Length of the bed that the skirt will cover

These measurements assume that three sides of the bed will be covered with the bed skirt:

A Queen has 220 inches of space to cover (80in left + 80in right + 60in end = 220 inches total), or 19 feet
A King has 236 inches (80 + 80 + 76) of space to cover, or 20 feet.
A Full has 204 inches (75 + 75 + 54) of space to cover, or 17 feet.
A Twin has 189 inches (75 + 75 + 39) of space to cover, or 16 feet

3) Total gathered length of the bed skirt fabric

To get that romantic, expensive look on the bed skirt we made, we used about 3 feet of drop cloth per 1 foot of length. You can probably get away with 2, but just know that the more you stretch it, the more you change the look.  For our Queen bed, we multiplied the length from step two by 3 to get our total length of fabric needed.

A Queen needed 19′ x 3 = 57′ of drop cloth.
A King would need 20′ x 3 = 60′ of drop cloth
A Full would need 17 x 3 = 51′ of drop cloth
A Twin would need 16′ x 3 = 48′ of drop cloth

Getting Started

We used two 4’x15′ hallway drop cloths for our Queen bed, and cut them each in half to get two 2’x15′ strips.  The four 2×15 strips gave us about 60 feet of gathered length to work with, and 2 feet of height to work with.

File_000 (1)

File_002_picmonkeyedTo attach the skirt to the frame, we used tacks.  One fold a time, one tack at a time.

Having the skirt attached to the bed works for some people and won’t work for others.  We’ve made this skirt for four different beds so far, but none of them get high traffic or are exposed to lots of pets, frequent spills, dirt, etc. We vacuum and spot clean as needed, just as we would an upholstered bed or couch, and that does the trick. Even if this isn’t for you, you may be able to apply the concept to one of your own that you’re able to remove.

File_008_picmonkeyed

File_009

File_003

File_007_picmonkeyed

File_005_picmonkeyedBecause we had ugly plywood on the top of our frame, we covered the whole thing with another 6×9 drop cloth cut to size.  We folded the raw edges under to give it a clean look.

IMG_1706

IMG_1703

File_004

Then we added our mattress, made the bed, and voila!  It took us about 2 hours for the whole thing.

01

IMG_1830What do you think?  Would you make a bed skirt out of a drop cloth for your bed?

50 Comments

Previous Post: « Before & After: Client CMC Bath Renovation
Next Post: Before & After: An Updated Take on Black & White »

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Iesha says

    June 14, 2016 at 1:52 pm

    I love this! I was looking for some inspiration to make over our bedroom and this did it. Thank you!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      June 14, 2016 at 1:54 pm

      Aww, thank you so much Lesha! Best of luck with the makeover!

      Reply
    • Regina Eiland says

      February 8, 2018 at 2:27 pm

      GENIUS, YOU GUYS ARE FREAKING GENIUSES! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH MONEY YOU ARE SAVING ME? DO YOU! DO YOU REALLY? LIKE I AM READY TO WALK TO HOME DEPOT RIGHT NOW. I HAVE BEEN LOOKING ON EBAY, ON EVERYWHERE FOR AN AFFORDABLE SKIRT THAT LOOKS THIS BEAUTIFUL! IM NOT RICH AND I DON’T HAVE A HANDY MAN, BUT I WORK HARD I PAY MY TAXES. I RECYCLE. WHY CAN’T I HAVE NICE THINGS TOO? IM APPALLED AT WHAT THEY WANT FOR SOMETHING LIKE THIS. DON’T THEY NO I’M A SINGLE MOTHER? IT’S CRAZY TO HAVE TO PAY FOR A BED SKIRT WHAT YOU WOULD EXPECT TO PAY FOR THE COMFORTER. BY THE TIME I FINISHED, MY DARN BEDDING WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE THAN THE BED. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU! YOU MADE MY DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! BY THE WAY DID I SAY THANK YOU? OK HERE’S WHAT I’M GOING TO NEED YOU TO DO. I’M GOING TO NEED YOU TO KEEP POSTING EVERY FREAKING ANYTHING YOU DO. IF YOU MAKE A TRASH CAN I WANT A POST. WHILE YOUR AT IT, IF YOU COME UP WITH SOME AMAZING DEVICE THAT WILL MAKE MY 19 YEAR OLD MAGICALLY WASH THE DISHES WITHOUT BEING TOLD, AND MAKE ME BREAKFAST IN BED I’M GOING TO NEED YOU TO BLOG OR PIN THAT OK.. WE GOOD ON THAT?

      Reply
      • Catherine says

        February 8, 2018 at 5:05 pm

        Regina, Haha!! SO glad you found it helpful!

  2. Lea says

    June 14, 2016 at 5:14 pm

    This is so beautiful. I’m gonna do a sewn one tho because we have Littles and pets and….wellll…. But someday my hubby and I wanna build ourselves a bed and this will be just the thing for it! But I will use all your measurements for my sewn one, that’s half the work, the math of it all! Thanks SO much!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      June 14, 2016 at 5:17 pm

      You’re so welcome, Lea! I’d love to know how your sewn one comes out!

      Reply
  3. Winnie says

    June 14, 2016 at 7:00 pm

    I love this idea, but would also need to sew mine. Did you wash the drop cloth first ? And did you need to do anything special when rounding the corners ? (Thanks for the measurements … my bed also requires an 18″ drop, so you saved me some math, lol)

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      June 14, 2016 at 7:04 pm

      Thanks Winnie! Yes, we’d suggest washing first. We just kept the pleating going on the corners, and if there was a break in the fabric pieces, we overlapped the edges.

      Reply
  4. Lea says

    June 14, 2016 at 10:09 pm

    Here is a tutorial for a sewn bedskirt, but I like y’all’s better!
    http://www.tidbits-cami.com/2015/08/diy-gathered-bed-skirt-from-a-drop-cloth.html

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      June 14, 2016 at 10:31 pm

      Awesome!

      Reply
  5. Chloe Crabtree says

    June 18, 2016 at 2:33 pm

    I found this over on Hometalk! This is brilliant! I have been shopping for the perfect dust ruffle for a cottage style guest room and finally found one for $320 that is not in the budget. Now I have the answer! Thank you so much for this great idea! I have a link party that opens on Monday at 8 PM EST that I would LOVE for you to come by and share this! I imagine lots of folks could use this great idea! I know I will be using this very soon!!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      June 18, 2016 at 4:36 pm

      Thanks so much Chloe! Would love to share! Just let me know the details 🙂

      Reply
  6. Sandra mauldin says

    October 8, 2016 at 2:12 pm

    Love the Bedskirt, I have bought different ones, not happy with any, so I will try this, you and your Husband are really talented, I saw your website on a Friends page, so glad I found you!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      October 8, 2016 at 2:13 pm

      Thanks so much Sandra!!

      Reply
  7. Kaitlyn Cash says

    December 21, 2016 at 5:51 pm

    Love this! Did you use a box spring since it is already 18 inches off the ground?

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      December 21, 2016 at 7:10 pm

      Thanks Kaitlyn! No we didn’t, we made a platform bed frame that sits 18″ off the ground, and then put the mattress on that.

      Reply
  8. Heather says

    December 28, 2016 at 11:01 am

    Since you put the tacks into the plywood, do you not have a boxed springs? I’m trying to decide if I could tack into the bed springs or should sew mine. I love this look!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      December 28, 2016 at 11:18 am

      Hi Heather, Thanks for your note! That’s correct – we built a platform bed, so no box spring needed.

      Reply
  9. buffy4moore says

    January 12, 2017 at 12:47 pm

    So beautiful and so stinking simple!! Love love love your style!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      January 12, 2017 at 12:50 pm

      Thanks so much!

      Reply
  10. Tami Milligan says

    January 19, 2017 at 8:20 am

    Hi there, I just love the bed and and the whole room. Do you have plans or advice on building the platform bed. I love the simplicity of this bed. We have wanted to build one but when you search platform beds you get the ones that sit on the floor. Any advice you could give would be wonderful or if you know of any online plans that would be appreciated. Again love this. Tami 🙂 Nova Scotia, Canada

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      February 20, 2017 at 1:22 pm

      Hi Tami! Thanks so much. We didn’t put together plans or a tutorial, but our frame looks something like this under the bedskirt: http://www.glitterandgoatcheese.com/2013/11/25/our-hand-built-king-sized-platform-bed/. We used plywood on top instead of the 1×3 slats that are in this tutorial, and made our frame about 18″ off the ground. I hope this helps!

      Reply
  11. Ed and Eva Kay Fahrnbach,269 S 2nd St Ripley Ohio says

    January 23, 2017 at 7:40 pm

    Love the look. Have done this type of thing before Looks and easy on the budget. Worried about the skinny legs at end of bed. Only look like 2x2s. Hope I’m wrong!!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      January 27, 2017 at 6:34 pm

      Thanks! We’ve had the bed for a year and it’s holding up well 🙂

      Reply
  12. Aubrey says

    February 19, 2017 at 4:33 pm

    Wondering how many of the tacks you purchased? I’m ordering drop cloths on Amazon and followed your link for the tacks but it doesn’t have a number and I wondered about how many you used?

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      February 20, 2017 at 1:31 pm

      Hi Aubrey, we used 1 tack per 1-2 inches in ours. Depending on the size of your bed, you’d need:
      – Queen = 220 inches (80in left + 80in right + 60in end = 220 inches total) // 220 tacks
      – King = 236 inches (80 + 80 + 76) // 236 tacks
      – Full = 204 inches (75 + 75 + 54) // 204 tacks
      – Twin = 189 inches (75 + 75 + 39) // 189 tacks
      Hope this helps! Good luck with your project!

      Reply
  13. Christy says

    May 29, 2017 at 10:25 am

    Absolutely gorgeous! Just the inspiration and idea I needed for the guest bedroom at our new house! Thanks!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      May 29, 2017 at 7:15 pm

      So happy to hear that Christy!

      Reply
  14. Cheryl says

    October 26, 2017 at 10:38 am

    This is an amazing idea. My son has an extra long twin but since his bed sits against the wall with the long (length) side of the bed, a regular dust ruffle will not work. I need it to cover the head/foot/and one length of the bed. I think this will work perfect. Because it is canvas material, do you think I should be able to dye it? Thanks again for the great information.

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      November 1, 2017 at 10:47 am

      Hi Cheryl! Honestly, I don’t know… I’ve seen bleached canvas drop cloth curtains etc that are lighter, but I don’t think I’ve seen dyed. I’d check Pinterest/Google – I’m sure someone has done it before!

      Reply
  15. Deborah says

    December 18, 2017 at 10:11 pm

    What a great post!!! Everything in this room is so beautiful!!

    Reply
  16. Jeri says

    December 30, 2017 at 10:30 pm

    Catherine, I can’t tell for sure from the photographs, but it looks like the bottom edge of the drop cloth is hemmed. Was it hemmed on both sides, and you just cut it in half and used the hemmed edge at the bottom? Whatever you did, it is gorgeous! So full and romantic looking!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      December 31, 2017 at 6:32 pm

      Thanks Jeri! The drop cloths we used had a hemmed edge on all 4 sides, so that’s exactly what we did. When we cut it in half, we put the cut (unfinished) edge on the top and left the finished edge out, which made it easy to get a finished look without sewing 🙂 Hope this helps!

      Reply
  17. Donna Latta says

    January 3, 2018 at 6:28 pm

    We built a house last year and my husband built us a brand new bed. This is the exact type of bedskirt I had him to it for us. I love it!!!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      January 3, 2018 at 7:15 pm

      Amazing! Isn’t it the best? Thank you for sharing ♥️

      Reply
  18. Karina says

    January 20, 2018 at 9:14 pm

    Love this and is on my ‘to-do’ list for 2018!! Yay!
    One question, did you wash the cloths first?
    Thanks!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      January 23, 2018 at 4:55 pm

      Yay! We didn’t, but I’d suggest washing them.

      Reply
  19. Shaasia Ravenell-Henderson says

    January 29, 2018 at 12:04 pm

    What if my bed frame doesn’t have plywood on top, I have a metal bed frame?

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      February 2, 2018 at 11:07 pm

      For this one we nailed it into the wood so you’d need some sort of wood surface to make it work. I’m not sure if putting a sheet of plywood on top of the metal frame would work or not!

      Reply
  20. Dana says

    July 12, 2018 at 11:06 am

    Looks great!! What is the amount of fabric used for ea ind pleat?

    Reply
    • THATCarol says

      December 5, 2019 at 10:34 am

      Yes, that was something I was trying to find as well. Also did you do anything to the bottom to keep it from fraying over time. I didn’t see either mentioned. Love this project and cant wait to do this to our bed as well.

      Reply
      • Catherine says

        December 10, 2019 at 12:02 pm

        We kept the finished side of the drop cloth exposed on the bottom, and the cut side we tacked to the top.

  21. Kelsey DIY says

    July 27, 2018 at 11:03 pm

    It’s great. Wonderful diy project!

    Reply
  22. Carol says

    May 11, 2019 at 4:39 pm

    Where did you get that beautiful headboard to go with the great bedskirt??

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      May 15, 2019 at 2:29 pm

      Arhaus!

      Reply
  23. Lisa Strother says

    April 19, 2020 at 2:27 pm

    I have been looking at bed skirts til I can even see anymore. I ran across your AWESOME instructions while looking for one you don’t have to sew, since I am not privy to that. Anyway, I saw a couple of questions about the bed frame. I currently have a queen size bed on box springs. I don’t want to have my son do yet another project for me so I was hoping I could just tack to the “hard” edge of the box spring and make this work. Have you had anyone else say they have done it this way? Please say yes!!!

    Reply
    • Catherine says

      April 24, 2020 at 9:09 am

      I don’t see why it wouldn’t work if the box spring is wood! Great idea.

      Reply
  24. T says

    November 17, 2020 at 4:00 pm

    Thanks for this! Sorry if i missed it but i can’t see anything about how to do the actual pleating… do you measure it out, how do you do the folding etc.? Does anyone know (maybe it’s in a different post?) thanks so much

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. DIY No Sew Drop Cloth Bed Skirt - DIY says:
    January 15, 2018 at 7:34 pm

    […] To see more: https://beginninginthemiddle.net/diy-no-sew-drop-cloth-bed-skirt/ […]

    Reply
  2. 15 Easy No Sew Projects | Tip Junkie says:
    January 20, 2018 at 10:16 pm

    […] @beginninginthemiddle […]

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