This old house, while quirky and full of charm, is not without its challenges. Case in point: the wall-mounted porcelain sink in our upstairs bathroom. Love the high-back splash guard; hate the exposed plumbing. 

SinkBefore

Right away, I imagined a fabric sink skirt with a large box pleat, trimmed in grosgrain ribbon. You see them all the time in magazines. But when I checked with an upholsterer in town, for a self-adhesive skirted sink with trim, it was going to cost $750! And that's without the fabric! Enter: Designer DIY. A couple of months back, while shopping the Dollar Tree for a Dorothy Draper-inspired table setting, I came across a bunch of plain, white flour sack cloths. They're simple, beautiful and, best of all, washable! For the table, I trimmed them in green grosgrain ribbon, then used them as napkins. But as luck would have it, they would also be the perfect length for a skirted sink, made from Dollar Tree towels!

FlourSack

After a quick stop at Jo-Ann's for Stitch Witchery and Velcro, out came the sewing machine and glue gun. First, using Stitch Witchery, I adhered black grosgrain ribbon to the bottom edge of every towel—11 in all. Next, to make the skirt, I planned and pinned each towel to Velcro, layering them to achieve a box pleat effect. After a simple stitch to sew it all together, I adhered one side of the Velcro to the apron of the sink, then attached the skirt. Finally, I hot-glued grosgrain ribbon across the entire top edge, just to give it that finished, decorator look. The only difference is mine cost about 15 bucks!

SinkAfter

I love the tailored box pleat effect. I think it's sophisticated and masculine. The extra storage space is great too!

SinkStorage

And would you believe I finished this little project about three minutes before our friends Seleta and Peter arrived for the weekend? Guests are so good that way. They make us get up and do it!