Hi Julie, Thank you for your question. If you have a bed with a metal frame that you are using with your boxspring and mattress, yes you may use this headboard with them. However if you have one of our platform beds, they are only designed to hold a mattress alone. You do not need a bed skirt with our platform beds but depending on the style of a metal bed frame you may want to cover it up. There are some very basic bed skirts that actually give the appearance of a platform bed that will give you the clean look you desire. I hope that helps.