Skirted furniture that will sweep you away

Skirted furniture might sit with the “grandmacore” aesthetic, but in recent years it has moved out of the country cottage into more contemporary settings.

Nicholas Jeanes, co-founder of design studio And Objects, points to its Otterbourne Slipper Chair, which is dressed in a geometric Christopher Farr Cloth Fresco fabric. “Fabric choice and colour instantly changes the look and feel of a traditional upholstered chair,” he says of the eye-catching design. Designer Rachel Donath agrees, and recently added fringing to her velvet Allard Ottoman – for a modern twist.

Rachel Donath velvet Allard Ottoman in Jewel Merlot, £610

And Objects Otterbourne Slipper chair in Christopher Farr Cloth fabric, £5,500

But why have skirting at all? “Not only does it eliminate the dead space underneath your furniture,” says Jeanes, “an upholstered skirt provides flow and softens the transition from the main body of the furniture to the floor.” Longer and looser fabric creates even more fluidity – see the lengthy skirt on Trove by Studio Duggan’s Skirted Seven chair that flares out in a voluminous fashion, or Alice Palmer & Co’s pendant wrapped in linen that hangs down in diaphanous folds. Nicola Harding includes a floor-grazing ruffle around the base of her Curtain Call sofa as a decorative detail that finishes the piece beautifully.

But skirts don’t have to be flouncy. Pierre Augustin Rose’s white Froufrou ottoman features neat, flat pleats lending simple elegance, while Ceraudo completes its footstools with a cute frilly flourish available in checks, dots, stripes and a diamond pattern. Co-founder Victoria Ceraudo has always loved skirting. “It breaks up the overall form of the furniture,” she concludes, “and creates a warm and inviting interior to cosy down in.”