Bed skirts add a finished look to your bedroom decor and hide any storage boxes or dust that my be hiding under your bed. They can be tricky to place, however, since they go between the mattress and the box spring. With a little patience and the help of a friend to provide some extra hands, you'll have the skirt on your bed and looking neat and attractive in no time.
Things You'll Need
Tape measure
Iron
Ironing board
Adhesive Velcro strips
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Step 1: Know Your Size and Measurements
The first step for getting a bed skirt onto your bed is to make sure you have the right size and style skirt. Bed skirts are labeled by size and style. A skirt for a four-poster bed has special slits in it to allow room for the posts. Before ordering or purchasing a bed skirt, measure from the top of the box spring to the floor so you know how long the skirt needs to be as well as what size bed it must fit. The standard is 15 inches, but you may need more or less depending upon the height of your bed.
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Step 2: Remove the Mattress
Take your pillows, sheets and mattress off your bed to get it ready for the bed skirt, which will lay on top of the box spring.
Step 3: Wash and Iron
Wash the bed skirt according to the manufacturer's instructions and as appropriate for the fabric type. Dry the skirt and iron it if necessary to remove any wrinkles. Pleated bed skirts in particular look best when neatly pressed.
Tip
You may be able to get the wrinkles out the the bed skirt just by tossing it in the dryer for a few minutes.
Step 4: Position the Bed Skirt
Lay the bed skirt over the box spring, smoothing it out as necessary to ensure that it lays flat. Make sure the corners are properly aligned and that the skirt is the same length on all sides of the bed. If you have a four-poster bed, ensure that the skirt is properly positioned around the bedposts. The seams of the bed skirt should line up with the edges of the box spring. Elastic skirts should be positioned so that the elastic band goes around the top of the box spring. If necessary, hold the bed skirt in place with pins or Velcro.
Tip
- Some bed skirts have skirting material only on three sides. Place the side without a skirt toward the headboard when this is the case.
- For beds with slats instead of a box spring, simply lay the skirt over the slats and allow it to hang down over the edge of the frame. Use hook-and-loop tabs to keep the skirt in place on the slats. You may need to buy a skirt that is 1 or 2 inches longer than needed so the skirt has some extra fabric to drape over the side rails of the bed.
Step 5: Call a Friend
Place the mattress back on top of the box spring, disturbing the bed skirt as little as possible during the process. The easiest way to do so is to lift the mattress back onto the bed and set it down without sliding it. This is almost impossible to do by yourself and will probably require a second set of hands. Straighten the bed skirt as needed once the mattress is in place.