Skirted Tables Usually Make Me Cringe, but This Interior Designer Found a Way That Looks Cool (and Hides Clutter)

Nothing gives your home a flirtatious flair like adding a little bit of fabric and fun to your favorite furniture pieces. And how might one do this you ask? With an old-fashion design detail that's been given a contemporary twist, of course. It's time to take your skirts out of the closet, and stick them straight on your table.

While skirted tables may initially make you think of your mother's old fabric-heavy, round entry table (it made Livingetc's content director Lucy Searle shudder a little bit), the classic design has been reinvented for 2025. Adding a bit of fabric can soften an entire room, while also introducing a touch of character and plenty of charm.

Skirted tables may not be a new revelation, but I've just seen one interior designer approach them in such a cool way — a checkered pattern that pops in the otherwise pared-back space. So whether you have a console table that could use a bit more character, or you've been looking for ways to stylishly conceal a bit of clutter, here's how this designer did this interior design trend well.

Laura Krey of New York City-based Laura Krey Design added a simple skirt to a timber-clad home office in her Wycoff Avenue Cottage Project, and my eye was immediately drawn to the detail.

"Skirting has been used in more traditional rooms forever, but what’s fresh now is the appearance of table skirts, albeit with more contemporary fabric, in a modern-leaning room," she says. "For instance, I love a graphically-patterned fabric used as a skirt."

The checkerboard print of the table skirt introduces a playful warmth to the otherwise minimalist design, instantly bringing visual interest to the room. This frilly decorative detail feeds into the latest trend towards creating more eclectic and personalized spaces, and while ruffled bedding is all the rage right now, there's no 'one way' to embrace a skirted table. In fact, it pays to be a bit creative, to ensure the look still feels fresh and modern. Whether that's opting for a more uniform box pleat over the standard ruffle, your choice of fabric, or even where you're putting it, is up to you.

And a table skirt gives a nice finish to any hard edge or underutilized space. You can play with scale and fullness to evoke a bit of playfulness, but a skirted table can also be used throughout the home. On a tall console table lining your entryway, a tailored skirt can read strongly and cleanly, a good visual when entering the home. A lighter and airier table skirt fabric will introduce a more organic and natural aesthetic to a room, giving a lightness to social or high-traffic areas of the home — perfect for kitchen sink skirts and office spaces.

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If a table in your home is in need of an easy, chic upgrade, it may be as simple as throwing on a skirt.