The nostalgic, farmhouse-inspired sink skirt is having a moment | Canada Voices

In the mid-1960s, fashionable women rebelliously wore miniskirts. The hem-defying garment was British designer Mary Quant’s gift to Swinging Sixties London. Now, another distinctly British fabric fad has jumped across the pond – only instead of exposing knees, this skirt hides Febreze.

Interior designers are pegging up a panel (or skirt) of fabric in place of cupboard doors in kitchens and pantries, or using it as a surround for pedestal sinks in bathrooms. It shrouds cleaning products, pipes and toiletries while adding a dash of whimsy. And it’s a visual treat in a kitchen, breaking up a bank of cabinetry with pattern and colour.

“I’ve been loving the sink-skirt moment,” said Ashley Montgomery, principal designer at Toronto-based Ashley Montgomery Design. “They welcome a nostalgic feel where personal style matters over predictable cabinetry.”

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Born out of necessity in 18th- and 19th-century Europe – and particularly common in Britain – installing a fabric panel in a kitchen with freestanding furniture (the norm at the time) helped conceal clutter. It functioned the same in a bathroom, hiding the plumbing. Using fabric was inexpensive and easy.

In modern homes, textiles such as playful florals, chunky stripes and billowy ruffles are unexpected and expressive, evoking the countryside and laidback farmhouse interiors. Many of today’s best-dressed homes are incorporating them, whether it’s in a beadboard-lined pantry or luxurious marble bathroom.

“Whenever we want a space to feel a touch more collected and less built-in, we reach for fabric,” Montgomery said of her design company’s process. “They bring in warmth, a hint of pattern and that effortless, traditional look.”

Mandy Milks, co-founder and creative director of Hemme Custom, a drapery and soft furnishing studio in Toronto, believes that contemporary bathrooms in particular can benefit from the look. “Sink skirts are a softer detail but so impactful, especially in a hard-surface space like a bathroom,” she said.

Recently, Milks has been fielding more requests for custom fabric skirts for kitchens and bathrooms. “We’re seeing a broader return to traditional decorating, like more custom details and patterned fabrics,” she added.

Where once Canadians “gravitated toward creams and beiges with simple, unfussy hardware for drapery and furnishings,” they’re now getting in touch with their wild side, according to Milks. “It’s been exciting to see growing interest in patterns, texture and details like sink skirts, definitely influenced by British interiors.”

If you want to give the look a try, opt for lighter-weight linen, cotton or a blend. Choose a decorator fabric over ones used for clothing (say no to silk, which can stain easily). Milks also advises steering clear of upholstery-weight fabrics. They’re bulky and don’t gather well. Think flirty, not stodgy.

Alana Dick, an interior designer at Ivory Design Company, recently used a skirt to festoon a wall-mount sink in a wheelchair-accessible bathroom at a co-working office space in Nanaimo, B.C.

The scratch-built space is “a great example of how form and function can work together,” she said. “The skirt hides an unsightly P-trap [pipe] and code-required white-vinyl safety cover.” The fabric is affixed with Velcro and there are multiple skirts, so it’s easy to wash and rotate them.

“A skirt adds softness and a residential quality you wouldn’t normally see in a commercial wheelchair-accessible washroom,” the designer said.

But Toronto-based interior designer Meredith Heron issued a word of warning: The trend can be “a charming biohazard” for some. Men have poor aim, she said. To her, a fabric-draped sink in the bathroom is a sanitary no-no, like keeping a toothbrush near the toilet.

“There’s a reason why you shouldn’t use carpeting in a bathroom,” she added. It can trap smells and other messes, so it’s best to use a skirt fabric that’s easily removable and washable.