The Easiest Way To Add A Kitchen Sink Skirt Without Removing Cabinet Doors

I wanted a kitchen sink skirt, but I didn't want to remove my cabinet doors. No tension rod or ring clips were going to stand up to my family's daily use.

So I came up with a way to attach a sink skirt to the doors, without removing them or damaging them at all.


I've always loved the look of a kitchen with a sink skirt.

I think there's something so charming, so warm...so homey...about a room with fabric softening the hard line of wood cabinets.

You just know there's someone with an apron roaming about.

And a pie in the oven.

Well, not my oven, but you get the idea.

When we added the kitchen, way back in 2002, the thought of a skirt went out the window, when I was overruled by my contractor and my husband in my quest for a farmhouse style sink.

It wasn't until more than solid decade later that I figured out a way to make one work with our standard sink - This is the original DIY for reference. 

And one that mounted to our base cabinet doors.


One that opened and closed easily, no sliding rings or tension bars, nothing that required me to remove the center support bar. Most importantly, one that functioned in a busy household with people who were not careful about design or decor.

However, I was persistent and once I'd engineered a solution that worked for my family and my home, I was hooked on the look.

My sliding garbage pail and cleaning supplies were easily accessible, yet completely hidden behind pretty patterned ruffles.


Like I said, super charming.

Unfortunately, there was one flaw in my design. Removing the sink skirt, either to swap it out with a new one or wash it, was not easy. The original design used nails and staples to anchor the fabric to the wooden dowel. 

That meant they needed to be ripped out, to slip the fabric off the wooden dowels, and after six years and multiple sink skirt swaps, I knew I had to find a better way.

Finally, this weekend, after months with my thinking cap on, I had my eureka moment and reengineered that cabinet door mounted sink skirt to make it an easy on/ easy off DIY design, using my old friend, velcro.

Yup. Velcro. I modified the technique I've used for years to attach fabric to glass cabinet doors and it worked like a charm. 

Here's what I did and what I used to attach my sink skirt to my kitchen cabinet doors.

It was a pretty simple DIY, one that anyone can do, and sew or no sew, is up to you.

Supplies:

• Wooden dowels
• Small finishing nails
• Sticky velcro
• Sew on velcro
• Fabric 
• Gutermann thread -if you're sewing
• Fusible Web - if you're not

First, I used the same wooden dowels I had the old sink skirts mounted on and just tacked them into the holes I made for the first skirt. 

The round shape of the wood was going to fill the gap between the top of the cabinet door and the bottom of the wood panel under the sink. It would also support the fabric, giving it the look, like it was on a rod.

You can remove this step if you like, however, I found that my skirt looked much better with the addition of the dowel. Plus, my dowels were a bit longer than the doors, to support the fabric so it would cover the space between the doors.

Next, I made two rectangular fabric panels. I needed one for each cabinet door.

Since, I already had several sink skirt panels on hand, I picked one to use as my template.

You can peek back at my other sink skirt posts (linked above) to see how I made the panels, but generally, the fabric should be 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 times the width of the cabinet door, depending on how much ruffle you like.

I simply cut my fabric to the correct width, a little wider than my template panel, so I had enough to fold over and finish the edges.


I didn't worry about the length yet, I left my piece very long since I would set the hem height after I mounted it to the cabinet door.

Then I used my machine to finish the sides and top of each panel, by folding each edge over about 1/2 inch and stitching it up.

If you don't have a machine (lucky you) or don't sew, you can use iron on tape or fabric glue. However, if you plan to wash your panels often, I suggest sewing them. 

I've had great success using iron on tape for other decor projects, but the adhesives don't always hold up well in the wash.

With the panels stitched up, I grabbed my sticky velcro and placed a strip on the inside of the cabinet door, about a quarter of the way down from the top.


I placed it there, since the gathered fabric bunched up and if too close to the top of the door, I found that it was too thick and prevented the door from closing.

Moving the velcro further down on the door alleviated that problem.

With the velcro set, I grabbed my panel and threw it over the front of the door to see where I would need to sew the velcro onto the fabric.


I moved the fabric around a bit to mock up pleats, but I didn't worry about the length yet. I folded the extra fabric under to get the proper look.

When I was happy with the placement and how the door would open and close, I marked the fabric and stitched the velcro in place on the back of the fabric panel.


I'd like to note here that I used two different kinds of velcro for this project. I used the sticky backing on the door and the sewable velcro on the fabric.

These doors get opened and closed many times on a daily basis and, while sticky velcro works well on the fabric panels mounted on my glass doors and bathroom vanity, I was concerned that the weight of the heavy upholstery fabric skirt and the constant use would be too much for sticky version over the long haul.

Again, you could use fabric tape or glue for your velcro, but I really like the strength of a stitch.

The last step involved hemming the panels. To do that I attached the panels to the door by pressing the velcro strips together and arranging the pleats.


Then I shut the door and used pins and clips to mark the proper length of each panel and hemmed them using the machine.


First one panel, then the next.

I did them individually, since nothing is straight or even in this old house.


Then I placed the panels back on the door, sticking the velcro sides together and arranging the pleats one final time.

When all was said and done, it was quite late.

Between the measuring and the figuring, modifying my plan and sewing, not to mention several silly mistakes, this project took a bit longer than I thought it would.

But I had great music and I was so energized by the way my latest DIY was turning out, I kept going despite the late hour.

By the time I fell into bed, I was extremely pleased with my newest creation. I just hoped it'd look as good in the light of day.

Which of course, it did.


Even better, it functioned as well as the old sink skirts did. It didn't move or shift when the cabinet doors were opened or closed.

The velcro kept the panels firmly in place and best of all, if - well, when, is more accurate - it gets dirty or I get tired of this pattern and want to replace it, I can do it on my own.

In minutes. 

No husband with the strength necessary to yank those nails out.

Plus if I used premade panels, like long curtain tiers, I won't even need to construct my own.


Which leaves me with a lot more time to bake that pie.

Or whip up another easy DIY.

Because who are we kidding, that's a whole lot more likely.

😉

What will you be making this week?

Other skirted DIYs:

• Skirted Living Room Table
• Ring Clip Table Skirt
• Ruffle Wooden Chair Skirt

Happy Decorating, Friends!