Although drapery panels have dominated the custom window treatment market in many parts of the country in recent years, my customers have never gotten over their love of valances. They’re pretty, practical, reasonably priced, and stylish – all great reasons to use them in any room of the home.
Here are seven great valance styles I recently installed in bedroom and bath applications…
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| Style #1 – Cinched swag with center band |
The simple lines of this cinched swag made it a good fit for the hall bath in my customer’s home. The wide center band echoes the colors of the embroidered floral cotton fabric.
In the master bedroom, the same customer chose a scalloped box-pleated valance.
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| Style #2 – Shaped box-pleated valance |
A simple but refined beaded ball fringe accents the shaped lower edge.
In the adjoining master bath, we repeated the dark blue color, but this time went with a more contemporary style embroidered fabric. The room is small and couldn’t handle a window treatment with a lot of folds and fullness, so I designed this flat valance with its gentle curves and contrasting inverted pleat. The eye-catching valance added a lot of punch to a plain-Jane room.
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| Style #3 – Inverted box-pleat valance |
A Nightingale valance was the perfect choice for a guest room primarily used for visiting granddaughters. We jazzed it up with a fun multi-color striped fabric which coordinated with the existing Pottery Barn bedding.
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| Style #4 – Nightingale valance |
The deep pink lining gives a punch of color to the covered buttons and the cut out pleats, as well as the jabot lining. A narrow 1/8″ pink welt accents the scalloped lower edge. The flower finials that I hand-painted to match the colors in the striped fabric were the perfect finishing touch.
Many of the newer valance styles feature a modern take on traditional swags, like this Martinique valance.
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| Style #5 – Martinique valance |
Soft, loose folds with minimal fullness give a more casual look than the strictly pleated folds of old-style swags.
Medallions with an antique bronze finish coordinate with the colors of the embroidered faux silk (that’s just a nice way of saying polyester!)
The pleated valance with finials is very similar to the Martinique, but the horn (the piece between the two swag sections) is fuller, making it much more rounded, and the jabots are shorter. The beautiful French knot silk fabric is accented with a multicolor ball fringe.
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| #6 – Pleated valance with finials |
Valance #7 uses the same fabric as #1. My client loved its cheery floral design so much, she used it for two rooms in her home.
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| Style #7 – Soft cornice with custom shaped bottom |
For this bedroom-turned-office application, I designed and fabricated a
soft cornice whose profile follows the embroidered pattern of the fabric, a custom touch that would never be found in a readymade window treatment.
Custom valances can freshen up a room with color and style. A window treatment specialist (like me!) can design one that’s perfect for your windows. It’s what we love to do! If you’d like to schedule a consultation, just give me a call.
4 Comments
Beautiful window treatments. I'd call you for mine, but I'm afraid the cost would be a bit high, since I live in Oklahoma! LOL!!
Very interesting and attractive window valances! I'm one of those people that really likes valances — the leave more of the window open for a view. I like all of the designs that you came up with, and do have a favorite — the last one with the little roses. Now if you could only do that in my master bedroom…..
you have a lot of interesting ideas and i love your pretty tastes always
Beautiful window treatments.