Valances, those draperies that cover only the top section of your window, can add designer flair to the window treatments throughout your home. You can choose from several pre-made types or be creative and express your own innovative style with assortments of materials and fabrics. You can combine them with conventional shades or curtains, or allow them to stand out on their own. They readily serve to cover those often unsightly hardware issues and curtain rods with an attractive flow of form and color that will help unify the room’s decor.
When setting out to select an appropriate window valance, it’s best to be aware of the different styles that are available. Often the style of your window treatments helps pull together and harmonize various room elements by mirroring dominant shapes or reinforcing either a formal or more casual decorating scheme.
Balloon style valances for windows are gathered in vertical tucks at regular intervals across the window width in order to create puffs in the fabric that billow out to offer volume and elegance to your overall decor. Depending on the fabric with which it is made, a balloon style topper can work well to compliment the decor of a formal room with stately folds of velvet or satin. It can also adorn a romantic hideaway by framing a French door with gauzy balloons of batiste or accenting a dreamy garden view with puffy clouds of patterned silk.
Window treatments with folds of fabric that provide a sort of frame with tails that extend partway down the sides are called swags. Included in this category are scarf valances and jabots. A scarf swag is often a casually arranged length of fabric laid artfully along the curtain rod with the ends dangling on either side for a charming accent to your room design. The sides can be arranged to hang at different lengths depending on the desired look. A jabot has a triangular shape and a rod pocket that facilitates gathering along the top for a more finished and tailored effect. Jabots often feature a contrasting lining fabric that adds an extra depth to your window dressings.
You can achieve an attractive and elegant look by pairing your jabots with a single ballooned valance in the center for a symmetrical, eye-pleasing accent. While custom valances of this sort can be expensive, you will find that once they are installed they are a delightful choice that creates a smart and sophisticated appearance.
Adding interest to existing window treatments is a snap with a few simple supplies. It’s fairly simple to arrange a sheet or fabric panel that matches your bedding artfully along the curtain rod to carry the theme around the room. Create a no-sew balloon look by gathering the sheet up at intervals with decorative ribbon tied at the top. Or twine a silk ivy vine along the rod, allowing it to curve and meander, or even use a string of tiny lights for a sparklingly romantic effect.
By embellishing with valance window treatments and a splash of fabric or decorative accents, you can unify or transform your home decor. With minimal expense you can achieve dramatic and inspiring results.
