Valances for Windows

Discover how valances can bring prominence and style to the windows in your home

A classic type of ornamental treatment, valances bring color and pattern to plain windows. They attract attention to a view, are graceful capstones to a comprehensive window dressing, or simply hide unsightly hardware. Here's a primer on their function and form.


Team Player

Most often a valance is part of an overall window treatment, which might include curtain panels, cafe curtains, blinds, or shutters. A valance can be used to hide the functional head rail on blinds or hide a basic curtain fishing rod for a set of curtains, providing a finished look. Often , it also functions as a unifying element, spanning multiple window sets, such as a three-window bay, and drawing with each other the dressings into one cohesive look.

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Stand-Alone Treatment

Valances can also be the complete window treatment. Often , they act like accent marks, drawing focus on a view by topping a window with pattern and color. Sometimes, just like kitchen and bathroom windows, a single valance is a way to introduce an element of gentleness in a no-fuss, easy-to-keep-clean way. For a space that has different types of windows -- a good open-plan kitchen with a garden window, double-hung windows, and a sliding door, for instance -- simple valances bring harmony to the various styles.

Tautly Tailored

Many valances elegantly showcase their colorful or patterned material with a flat presentation. Sometimes they are are stapled to a board, or they may hang from a rod without cinching or gathering. For interest, there might be the scalloped hem, a band of contrasting fabric, or eye-catching trims put into the bottom edge. Many flat valances also feature vertical pleats, called box pleats, which fall at the corners or divide the valance into segments.

Beautifully Swagged

Valances are often artfully draped across the tops associated with windows. The valance might be pinched at the corners, with a loose scoop of cloth hanging down in the middle, or there might be several pinched sections, so the bottom from the valance looks scalloped. Other valances hang from knobs installed across the the top of window, so the fabric drapes in loose cascades. Depending on the fabric and display, swagged valances can be sundress casual, with cotton geometric prints hanging within flat folds. By contrast, a custom-made silk valance with tight, pinched pleats and satin fringe trim feels ball-gown formal.

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