Bathroom Sink Skirt

A bathroom sink skirt is a great way to hide pipes, or to give added storage space. Though pedestal or wall mounted sinks add vintage charm to small baths, they lack the storage space and often times show ugly pipes. Here are a couple ideas for making bathroom sink skirts.

At the top of the page is a sink skirt made out of fabric and at the bottom of the page you will see a sink skirt made out of salvaged boards.

To make the fabric skirt any type of material can be used. There are a lot of different options of fabric color ribbon, rope, beads, and fringe to decorate the skirt.

In the September issue of Better Homes and Gardens they had sewing projects using burlap. It has a linen look, it's inexpensive, and comes in a lot of differing colors. You could get a great look by fraying the bottom of the burlap and use fringe to tie the center of the skirt. BHG suggested looking on line at fabric stores. Check out fabric.com

We have a half bath with a small sink that has unattractive pipes. We didn't need extra storage space, but we wanted to hide the pipes. I made a skirt out of cotton duck and tied the center with thick twine rope. If our half bath was larger, I would have attempted the skirt made out of salvage boards at the bottom of this page.

I used materials I already had at home; cotton duck, elastic, thin twine, thick twine rope, iron on adhesive and hooks. I did not use a pattern. It's pretty simple, just a matter of cutting the material in a box shape. Let me emphasize, I AM NOT A GREAT SEAMSTRESS.

To make the sink skirt, measure the width of the sink. Measure the length from where you want the skirt to fit around the sink to the floor. Cut the fabric about an inch larger on the sides and bottom and about 2 inches larger on the top to alow for hemming. Hold the material up to the sink to get an idea of how much to hem. Use an iron adhesive for hemming. Hem the top of the skirt and than fold it over to make an open hem to thread elastic through.

I wanted to tie the skirt to hooks I screwed into the wall on each side of the sink.....so this is what I did. Cut two piece of thin twine long enough to double and tie to the hooks, about 12 inches. Fold each piece of twin in half and sew to each end of the elastic. Attach a safety pin to the end of the elastic and thread the elastic and twine though the opening. The size of the elastic will depend on the width of the sink. The elastic should stretch so it will be tight around the sink to hold the skirt in place.

Screw hooks to the wall on each side of the sink. Tie the twine to the hooks to hold each side of the skirt in place. Tie thick twine rope around the center of the skirt.

This was a pretty simple project for someone that doesn't do a lot of sewing.

Wood Sink Skirt

The wooden sink skirt pictured is made out of salvaged boards. This came from a magazine clipping I had in my files, the bottom of the page says, Country Sampler Decorating Ideas.

If the rustic look isn't for you the boards could be painted any color you would like for your bath. If you do not have boards sitting around you can purchase boards at salvaged yards or your local home center.

Materials needed;

Sheet of 1/4" plywood (size needed depends on dimensions of sink)

Salvaged boards with different finishes and varying sizes between 1" - 1 1/2" thick and between 1 1/2" - 3" wide.

Four hinges (at least 2 1/2"x2 1/2") with hinge pins

1" - 1 1/2" finishing nails (size needed depends on thickness of salvaged boards)

Jigsaw - Tape Measure - Tack Cloth - Clear Sealer, Wood Glue.

Instructions;

1) Measure width and depth of sink and measure the distance from the floor to the underside of the sink. Using these measurements, cut two pieces of plywood (or have them cut at a home center) to fit beneath the sides of the sink. These will be the screen panels to which the salvaged boards are attached.

2) Arrange the plywood pieces in the order they will appear when assembled. Connect the pieces of plywood together with hinges, Note; For a rigid unit, use L brackets instead of hinges. To ensure the edges of the side panels are not visible when viewing the finished screen from the front, place the side panels on edge, flush against the back side of the front panel.

The placement also ensures that the hinges will not show. Working from the inside, attach each side panel to the front panel with two hinges, one about 1"-2" from the top and one about 1"-2" from the bottom. Note; Because the boards are large and awkward, you may need help holding them together as you work.

3) Remove the hinge pins detaching the two sides of each hinge and separating the panels. It is recommended doing this before attaching the boards. So panels can lie flat and be worked on separately.

4) Lay out the salvaged boards on top of the plywood pieces, arranging them in an irregular pattern so that similar boards are not next to each other. Cut salvaged boards to match the height of the plywood boards. Wipe boards with a tack cloth to remove loose dirt and paint. Coat boards with clear sealer to prevent the paint from peeling further.

5) Start a finishing nail at the top and bottom of each salvaged board by tapping through the board so the nail tip slightly protrudes out the back.

6) Lay out all three panels face up, arranging the salvaged boards on top of them as before. Working on one panel at a time, apply wood glue to the back of each salvaged board and press firmly in place on the plywood. Weight with a heavy object while glue dries. Let dry for 24 hours.

7) Finish the screen by re-aligning each hinge and inserting the pins. Set in place beneath sink.

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