Bedskirt Switcheroo

An alternate title for this post could be "How a Small Red Crayon Saved Us $300," but you'll have to keep reading for that story. :) 
When we bought the quilt, duvet, and headboard for our master bedroom, I knew I was going to need a new bedskirt to go with it. What I didn't foresee was that the Pottery Barn headboard would end up making our boxspring sit so high that a standard bedskirt wouldn't reach the ground.

I needed an 18" bedskirt, and after lots and lots of searching, I had pretty much accepted the fact that I was either going to have to make one myself, or pay $300 for this one from Ballard Designs.
But while I was waiting to find the time to make one (because $300 for a bedskirt was NOT an option), a miracle happened. A miracle in the form of a red crayon at my mom's dry cleaner.
My mom had taken her comforter + bedskirt to be dry cleaned, but somehow, a red crayon ended up in there with the comforter, and it came out covered in little red splotches that the dry cleaner couldn't get off. They ended up buying her a new bedding set, which meant she ended up with an extra bedskirt! 
She knew I was looking for one, and she knew her boxspring sat up pretty high too, so she brought it to me to try, and lo and behold - it fit! 
The only problem was that it looked like this:

The linen color was fine, but the thick black strip? NOT the calm, neutral look we were going for. But other than the black stripe, it's so pretty!
I love the texture-y linen below the stripe!
I really wanted to make it work somehow. The black stripe was 1" grosgrain ribbon, so I ordered a bunch of 1.5" taupe grosgrain ribbon from Ribbon and Bows Oh My.

The taupe ribbon was wide enough to cover the black ribbon, and it matched our color scheme just fine! To affix it, I bought some Heat n Bond iron-on adhesive:

I lined the ribbon with the Heat n Bond first...

And then I peeled off the backing little-by-little and affixed the taupe ribbon on top of the black ribbon.

In the end, I had this!
No more black stripes!
I was a little worried that the taupe stripes were too thick and chunky, but when I got it on the bed, it was just right!


So that's the story of how a little red crayon solved our bedskirt crisis! Lessons learned: (1) there's a wonderful place called Ribbons and Bows Oh My where you can buy any sort of grosgrain ribbon your heart desires, and (2) you can really get any be-ribboned product and easily fix it to match the look you're going for!