Solved the dust ruffle problem.

[dixiegrrrrl]

I keep things in hard plastic containers under my bed, it;'s a good sotrage area.
But, since the bins are visible, I needed a dust ruffle.
Which are hellish expensive.
And difficult to put on and take off, it you use the one that covers the entire bottom mattress,
or difficult to keep on, it you use the one that you tuck all around under the top mattress.
The cat loves to nap under the bed, he likes the cave feeling of the dust ruffle.

My mattress is queen size.
I discovered that a KING size top sheet will hang down far enough to the floor to be used as a dust ruffle.
As long as I use a color that works, it looks exactly like a flat ruffle under the comforter.
AND discovered that these usually expensive sheets can be had for almost half price on ...ETSY.
Found 2 of them, in the original packaging, from the 1980's, for under 20.00 each.
ETSY is now my go-to place for linens,and also for "vintage" pyrex.

[Curmudgeoness]

1. I have come to loathe dust ruffles.

I am so sick of comforter sets with ten piece sets of things that I don't want. I have just converted all of my bedrooms to bedspreads....they come down to the floor and it is just one piece. No more fighting with dust ruffles and shams and pillows that I throw off the bed every night. It wasn't easy to find bedspreads these days, but I am so glad I found them. I could have given you dust ruffles----well, not really, since mine are just full size beds.

And oh how I love my old pyrex and I hate that I broke one of my favorite pieces. I will have to check that site out.

[applegrove]

2. I sewed one once. You put in two rows of baste stitch 5/8th and 1 inch from the top of a long piece

of cotton (measured so it will just touch the floor). Then you pull on one of those strings to create the gathers in the material. They you put sticky velcro on the inside of the side beam of the bed every 7 inches or so, for 3 inches . Sew the other side of the velcro to the gathers of the ruffle in the exact same 7 - 3 inch pattern. Really cheap. Works. And you can take it off and wash it. I think I was so cheap I actually used a cotton drop cloth for house painting as my material.

[northoftheborder]

4. I did this velcro trick once...it worked great. That was on a regular non antique bed that could...

....have a continuous ruffle all the way around. Now, 2/3 of the beds in my house are antique, with the mattress and base resting on slats, which in turn rest upon a piece of steel on each side of the bed. I cannot figure out a way to fix a dust ruffle; it would have to stop at the corners, because there is a leg there, and cannot hang from just under the mattress, because of the support metal piece. For one of my beds I bought a queen size spread which reaches to the floor of my regular size bed, and looks good. But there is still the problem of the base spring part of the mattress set looking unsightly when the covers are pulled back. I thought I could at least make a cover for that, but haven't tried it yet. (I also like to store stuff under the beds, which is another reason for the dust ruffle.)

I also am sick of the huge comforter look. I love to use one in the winter, (which often lasts a long one month here) and turn down the thermostat. But I like the look of a spread over it, and to use in the summer that is light weight and covers everything to the floor. Wish they would come back in style.

[applegrove]

5. I had a trunk at the end of my bed. So I didn't put the velcro ruffle there. I had the velcro

ruffle only on the sides. Two pieces. You could do three ruffles. That would work. And you gather the ruffles so that it fits where the legs are not.

[cbayer]

3. Brilliant! Well done.

[dixiegrrrrl]

6. Ty..

I just love ETSY for shopping. They have tons of "vintage" stuff, most of which was in my kitchen at one time or the other in the last 4 decades! Just poking around the shops is a trip down nostalgia lane. ( altho I an shocked at the neon colors from the late 60's... .)

[northoftheborder]

7. So am I, NOW, but I remember wearing some of them!!! Also the wall-paper was atrocious.

Brown was the color for appliances, along with avocado green in decor, and gold, big hair, wigs and hair pieces, and brown wood wall paneling.

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. "brown wood wall paneling. "

eeeeeek!
I forgot about that.
I have lived in more than my share of brown walled houses. The ones I could paint over, I did, but some were rentals, no paint allowed. ALL were in the Pacific NW, which has too many cloudy dreary grey days as it is.

[we can do it]

9. We did the same thing- works just fine