This Old-School Kitchen Island Decor Adds Instant Charm

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We spend so much time in our kitchens, from cooking and cleaning to eating and gathering to reading and working. It's no surprise then, that many people are ditching the colder, more minimalist look to embrace cottagecore kitchens with grandma's-house touches. In one of the biggest, overarching kitchen design trends currently, many of us are warming up our kitchens with layered textures and richer hues, more personalized décor, and eclectic, vintage touches mixed in with our modern staples. One unique way to both capture a more vintage look and also soften up the entire space? Kitchen island skirts.

Kitchen island skirts have evolved out of sink skirts, popular for hiding plumbing and warming otherwise clinical bathroom and kitchen sink areas. People began using them in Europe in the 1700s and 1800s; like any other trend, they've come around again periodically and became particularly in demand in the last couple of years. This is thanks to the aforementioned move toward cozier kitchens — sink skirts soften hard lines and add some movement, and are also an opportunity for injecting color and pattern into the room. Some people are now applying the very same logic to their kitchen islands. Any kitchen island with space to add strips of velcro or stick tension rods can be softened with a skirt in a texture, color, and fabric that beautifully highlights your overall kitchen motif. It will hide any clutter you might have, and make the kitchen island feel comfier in general.

If you've been looking to get some color, pattern, and texture into your kitchen, you can trim even a solid kitchen island with a skirt. If you have drawers or cabinets you don't want to completely cover, add a narrower stretch of fabric to the island's corner. Complement its colors and pick a pattern that matches your kitchen aesthetic — gray and white striped linen are a preppy-chic match for a gray or white island, for example.

Kitchen island skirts are especially well suited for islands with open storage, like this DynJest solid rubberwood island. You could run the skirt the entire perimeter of this island; it would completely hide whatever you're storing on its shelves for a pleasing look. Whatever the right kind of kitchen island is for you, there's an approach to skirting it. 

To actually create and hang the skirt, measure your island so you know how much fabric you need — remember you'll want about 1½ times the island's width so you get some draping. You can buy fabric from craft stores or sites like Etsy, or repurpose kitchen curtains. Plus, curtains have a built-in sleeve for a rod, which you may need to add if you have your heart set on non-curtain fabric. If using a rod, install hooks underneath the counter, or stick in a Haoyunte tension rod. Or, carefully trim the top of your fabric and island with adhesive velcro strips. Cozy and visually intriguing, a skirt instantly upgrades kitchen islands with style points.