I vote for skirt inside the rails. Nice!

Bedskirts - I like them.

I've always liked inside the rails. Beautiful bed BTW & fantastic wood!

If the box springs can be seen, then I want it covered with something. And if a bed has metal side rails, a bed skirt is a must.
Otherwise, I don't like bed skirts much but if they are used, inside the wooden rails is my preference.
And I hate tailored bed skirts.

i think it depends on the bed. i like the idea of it inside and also i like the bed in the picture of the inside(last one)so that particular bed wouldnt want ot cover the bottom bc of its beauty. my son has a plain bed thta is about 1.5 ft off the gorund and i use a bedskirt covering the rails.

Bed skirts are a pain! It's hard to make the bed so it's hard to get my husband to help. They have been outlawed in our home!

It totally depends on the bed. With your bed if you can't see the box spring, since the rail is so pretty, then I think no bed skirt is needed. If you can see the box spring at all you need to cover it, for sure. You could use a box spring cover (or a fitted sheet) if you don't want the visual fuss of a bedskirt. If you do get a bedskirt, I like it outside the rails, typically. And opposite of bumblebeez above I prefer a tailored bed skirt- ruffles seem better suited to a child's room in my mind or if you have a more Victorian or shabby-chic decor (which you may! :) Obviously, I don't know!)

Good luck! It is a beautiful bed regardless.

Not a fan of bedskirts...

I always imagine spiders climbing up the bedskirts, so choose to go without.

I love this bed! I am partial to the bedskirt inside the rails, very neat and tidy.

However, I do not use a bedskirt because they never stay in place.

My preference is for the first picture, where everything is outside, because it looks warmer and cozier. Another option might be to get a bedspread then you won't need a bedskirt. Your bedroom set is so absolutely gorgeous. I don't think anything could look too wrong with it since it has such presence. Why not just go with what appeals to you personally? I imagine you must have some kind of a preference.

I like bedskirts on the outsides. I feel there is enough wood showing in the piece of furniture and the skirt adds another interesting layer. It seems more fluid to me.

Gorgeous bed! Is that a full size?

I love bedskirts. I have mine over my railings, but now you've made me wonder if I should try under.

yes to bed skirts in general, but not on this beautiful, old bed. It just wouldn't look right to me, and looks beautiful without any skirt. I would love to se your bed with white only or white and beige linens...like the all white one in the pic with no skirt...beautiful! I really dislike the skirt on the outside. The bed looks smothered in fabric. If you do decide on a skirt, place it inside! Oh, and I caught a peek of that oriental carpet. So,all white linens on this lovely wood bed with same tone/beauty on floors and only color is the red carpet? Oh yeah! That's what I'm sayin'!

It really depends on the bed and the look/style you're trying to achieve. I've always had a bedskirt but that's because every bed I've ever owned looked awful without a bedskirt. I think these days I prefer a cleaner more tailored look minus bedskirt just not doable with my style of bed (bummer). Given a do-over I'd choose the NO BEDSKIRT OPTION. They tend to get dusty and how often do you find yourself washing them?

While I prefer the look of no bedskirt, there is a lot of dust under my bed and I am thinking of adding one just to hide said dust. If you do go with one, definitely under the rails, I would not hide that lovely wood.

All three examples have their good points. It's a matter of personal taste IMO. I might choose the bedskirt on the outside, since your gorgeous bed already shows a lot of wood, and I like any opportunity to use fabric!

I have skirts on the beds in our master and in the guest room. First, I store a few boxes under the beds (we are soooo short on storage and closet space) and need to hide them. And second, under the beds is where our timid male cat goes to hide when he's nervous, and he's frequently nervous. Under the bed and behind the skirt he has his own sanctuary where he knows he'll never be bothered.

We have several skirts. One velcros on to a box spring cover. Another is elasticized. I'm currently using a quilt that is quite pretty but was inexpensive, under a top quilt in the master. None have ever moved or slid around! But vacuuming can be a pain.

gregsmama, that is exactly why I don't use a bedskirt! Being in Oklahoma we have to keep our house regularly sprayed for brown recluse spiders and even though I don't see them very often anymore, I can easily imagine one crawling up the skirt from the floor.

In the old days they put the leg feet of the beds in a dish to keep insects from getting on the bed.

When we first moved in this house our mattresses were on the floor because we hadn't bought a bed yet, and one night we woke up with a scorpion in the bed with us! How that thing made it to the back bedroom is a mystery.

I think they're pretty, but I won't have one. lol

No bedskirt.

I also think it depends on the bed. We have a resized antique bed from Leonard's in our master br and it's really high off the ground - but it looks better without a bedskirt (i've tried it both ways.) However the antique jenny lind in my guest room has one and looks better with.

For yours, just guessing without it being set up, I'd say no bedskirt, unless you tucked it in to the rails.

Wow -- What a wonderful variety of opinions!
Which leads me to believe there's no 'right' answer...

The bed will be on wooden floors with an oriental rug (a lovely floral Tabriz) under the foot. There will also be a small burled walnut dresser in the room and not much else. It's a small room with a separate study. I'm inclined to show the rails, since they're so pretty, but leaning toward a skirt inside the rails. While we won't need storage under the bed, we might need some structural reinforcement (don't know) and that probably wouldn't be too pretty. Also, I've got two dogs, including a lab who SHEDS, so dust-bunnies are a way of life.

The bed is a full size, and I'm hoping for an elegant, sumptuous feeling in the room. Lots of white or ecru linens is exactly what I had in mind! Soft and textural. Maybe real linen rather than cotton?

Just make sure you get washable fabrics that won't shrink up. Real linen wrinkles like crazy. You can get a linen look a like fabric.

I need them, as I store my dining room and dinette table leaves under the beds as well as some pull out totes with Christmas decorations, the ones designed to fit under a low bed..so i wouldn't have a bed witout one in my small house, i need the storage space for those necessities..i would have NO other place to put my dining table leaves..

Oh, Sweeby, that is one beautiful bed!! If it were me, I would skip the bedskirt on that and use plain linens so that all the gorgeous woodwork would stand out!!

I don't have a bedskirt on my own bed. For one, my cat goes in and out from it and he leaves a pile of hair on it each time---it's so gross I can't stand it. Also my bed has pretty "legs" and I don't want to cover them or compete with them. I also have a pretty rug beneath it that I don't want to hide.

I have a bedskirt in my guest bedroom because (a.) the cat does not go in there and (b.) it covers the metal rails jacked up on wood blocks. :)

I like bedskirts but not on gorgeous beds like yours. The bed stands alone and needs nothing to cover the sides. Then again it would depend on your bed linens and how long they hang or don't hang on the sides. With a comforter, a bedskirt would be called for, I think. I always use full cotton bedspreads.

I generally use a bedskirt to cover the ugly metal bedframe, but never wood.

Sweeby...Your bed is gorgeous!! I like bedskirts too, but only use to cover up the ugly stuff as some others have said.

I love the look in your pic # 2 (with no skirt) or even # 3 with skirt inside. I have a feeling though that your beautiful bed would look wonderful without one!

Could depend on the bedding though...

I like bedskirts on most beds (mine is a platform, so obviously no bedskirt). I also think sleigh style beds mostly look a little silly with them (not always, but the pic 2 is a good example). It's supposed to be a sleigh, so draping fabric to run in the snow looks odd.

I actually prefer nicely tailored ones. I think the ruffles have gone by the wayside decorating wise, unless it's a little girls room, where ruffles should abound :)

I'd do a nicely tailored one (linen would be wonderful for this) tucked in. I'd modify the bed and do a double stick velcro on it to hold it firm to the top edge of the box springs. (It's much easier to change that was as well since you dont' have to lift the matteress.

sweeby: I am having serious bed envy here. Lust lust lust after that bed of yours.

No skirt. I'm minimalistic when it comes to bedding. However, no bed skirt = more maintenance because you have to constantly clean all the stuff that found themselves under a bed. :-D

Another vote for bedskirts on most beds. Then again, I am a lover of fabric. I have no trouble keeping a bedskirt clean, and no fear of spiders climbing them. I agree with Igloochick that most sleighbeds look best without them and I also prefer a tailored skirt.

I have an antique bed with wood sideboards in a guest room. It has a bedskirt - outside the rails. I don't think my rails are as wide as yours. I don't like bedspreads, always use a coverlet, comforter, duvet, etc. and bedskirt. In my opinion, my antique bed looks best with the bedskirt and inside the rails. I would just play around and see what works with your bed. Which is beautiful!

tina

What a wonderful bed, Sweeby. I like no skirt in summer, inside the rales for a cozier look in the cold season (unless sumptuously gathered, then of course outside).

Just to point out (I also have an antique bed) that skirt inside rails is very tiresome to do with these old beds with the big wide wooden slats that connect the side rails and support the mattress. You'll have to cut a lot of slits and do a lot of hemming to make that look happen.

I've opted for no skirt because of this, but I do think a skirt looks a lot nicer

Can I hijack my own post? Here's the dresser we bought to go with it -- a lovely little Victorian (Eastlake?) piece. The burled wood matches perfectly, but photographs differently due to flash. I've also included a close-up of the hardware, which seems to be original.

So what should we do for night tables?

So, I'm enjoying my Sunday afternoon, telling my DH about the bed ruffle debate, telling him that I almost posted my "It depends on the bed and the feeling I want" comment........and I mention how surprised I was by the first respondent who dissed bed ruffles because they provide climbing access to spiders. Then, I tell him that (much to my astonishment) she was not the only one who worries about spiders climbing up the dust ruffle. He comments, in his most practical manner, that we don't really need to worry about dust ruffles, because the spiders have no problem whatsoever, just climbing up the legs of the bed. I counter with my worry that they will shimmy up the floor-length drapes, work their way across the ceiling, then drop themselves down right onto the beds. We laugh. Then, I go to change into a skirt and tights to go to a meeting this afternoon, and I put my feet into some Born clogs that I haven't worn in a coon's age. As I walk out of my closet, I realize that something is in that shoe.

You KNOW what I thought then............right???? So I shook out the shoe.

Found a nickel.

Red

Red, you crack me up!

Sweeby, that bed is beautiful! I think you can dress it well either way.

Personally I don't have a dust ruffle (or carpet) due to allergies. I may or may not put one in the guest room.

Red, your little story just about gave me a fit. I'm deathly afraid of spiders and I thought you were going to say one was in your shoe. LOL

If I thought for one second there was even a spider in my bedroom, the topic wouldn't be how to dress the bed, it would be how to sleep in the living room!!

sweeby: what a gorgeous bed and dresser. I most like the look with the best skirt under the rails, though since you are planning a Tabriz under the bed, I'd see how it looks without first so it doesn't detract from the rug.

Red: ROTFL! What a hoot! And here I was just checking in before bed, too.

I remember my grandma used to use the glass holders for the feet. Never knew quite why until now.

Love the bed. I would do no bed skirt to show it off and for just cleaner lines in general. I would like a skirt inside the rails if it was straight, layed flat, no ruffles, and stayed in place.

My mom went to put on her shoe when I was a kid and found a mouse in the end of it. I'm surprised she did not have a heart attack right then and there.

Great story Red!
But now you've got me thinking too much...

I'm leaning toward a skirt inside the rails, I think, because I want to have plenty of support for the mattress that's independent of the rails -- so probably something 'ugly' inside.

So for a skirt for this particular bed:
- Snow White cotton, full of gathers with perhaps a tiny strip of satin-stitching or a subtle detail?
- White Battenburg lace? (And if so, gathered or tailored)
- Heavy Flax-colored linen with inverted box pleats?
- Bunchy pleated silk?
- Several layers of sheer voile?
- Ecru lace?
- Heavy white fabric, quilted or matalesse?
- Toile or stripe, to coordinate with bedding?

If I can't find the perfect skirt ready-made and cheap, I'll probably sew my own, so creatively at least, the sky's the limit! ;-)

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I think a tailored skirt - no ruffles - would work best if is used under the rails. If you are covering the rails than the ruffled style would work better.

Whatever type of bedskirt you choose, I highly recommend those bedskirt "screws" from Bed,Bath and Beyond. I'm not exactly sure what they're called, but they work great and I'd never have another bedskirt without them. You just sort of screw them into the boxspring where ever you want to. No more shifting bedskirt!

i thought for sure you were going to say a spider

I'm in OK, too, so the spider (brown recluse) fear must be an Oklahoma thing.

Ways to reduce bite risk from recluse spiders include: 1) keep beds away from walls; remove bed skirts and items under the bed so that the only pathway to the bed is up the legs. 2) Keep clothing off the floor; if it is on the floor, shake it vigorously before dressing. 3) Store all intermittantly used items such as gardening clothing, baseball mitts or roller skates in spider-proof boxes or bags.

Here is a link that might be useful: recluse info

I think they have those spiders in AZ also, oh and scorpions too. But mostly if you are closer to pure desert rather than heavily developed city.
I am sure the pest control people do very well out here.

The bed and dresser are just beautiful! Before you decide about the bedskirt (and I think that this is a matter of personal taste - with no right or wrong), why not try out the looks to see how you respond to each. Set it up, using whatever fabric you have available to use for a mock up, without a bedskirt; with a bedskirt over the rails; with a bedskirt inside the rails; and without. Take some time to evaluate each and then go with the look that ultimately "clicks." This works well for me over a time period when I look, ignore, and go back to look until I feel sure.

If you decide to add a bedskirt and prefer to show the bed rail, I have a suggestion that has worked well for me. We have a high (step up) Pineapple Poster in our MBR that has a 26-inch drop to the floor from the top of the box spring, which sits a good 6 inches above the top of the bed rail. A "double deck" approach allows the box spring to be covered and the rails to show. A shorter skirt attached to decking falls over the exposed box spring and tucks behind the rail. A longer skirt (in three sections - for each side and the base) is attached with velcro to the underside of the box spring and falls from under the bed rail to the floor. The fabrics can be the same or complementary and the style can be tailored or gathered. I have had several changes of bedding and I prefer that both skirts be gathered and I like to use two fabrics - the main bed skirt trimmed with the complementary fabric used on the upper skirt.

When I redid my bedding the last time, I decided to use a long skirt over the rail. It looks nice, but I like it better the other way...and DH would not step on the fabric when using the rail to get in and out of bed, or put on socks!

I have always had bed skirts and although I am scared of a bugs and spiders, I have never found one on or in my bed that I know of.

Ever since my DS was born, we have always used a pest control service each month to spray for spiders and such and I have maybe seen 2 spiders in our house in 6 years. I couldn't go without it now.

My son has a sleigh bed with a comforter on top, but, you could see a little of the box spring, so I bought a cheapy one to coordinate with his comforter.