Valance Updo

Like I have said before, our kitchen was in pretty good shape when we moved in but it needed some updating.  The previous owners had a nice valance over the main window in the kitchen.  It was in really good shape but it just wasn’t my style…felt a little dated to me.  A valance updo was in order!

Previous owners furniture

I really wanted to spice it up a little bit and make it more of my style.  My mom and I headed to JoAnn Fabric to go on a fabric hunt.  I’ve really been obsessed with the color blue lately and wanting to incorporate that into my house.  Until we moved everything I owned was red, black and white and I really wanted a change.  I found the most beautiful fabric and thankfully it was on sale.  It’s a multi-colored blue ikat pattern.  I needed the fabric to be long enough to fill the length of the valance so that there were no seams from sewing.  (plus I don’t know how to sew haha…it’s on my list of things to learn…maybe)

Since the fabric was pleated, I needed to put a layer of batting on the valance before I recovered it.  I cut the batting to size and used a staple gun to attach it to the valance.  Once the batting was on I placed the fabric over the valance and made sure that it was on straight.  I put a staple at the top and the bottom of the valance to secure the placement of the fabric.  From there I started to staple away.  I didn’t pull too tightly when stapling the fabric in place because I didn’t want it to move the batting underneath and make it look uneven.  I placed all the staples on the top and the bottom and then I cut the edges so that I could fold them nicely at the ends.

I used the end piece of the fabric along the top because it wouldn’t be seen from the ground – this also allowed me to make sure everything was lined up.

On the underside we only took the fabric up about six inches or less.  Unless you stick your head underneath you can’t see the older fabric.  You can see here that the previous fabric is at the top underneath the valance.  The valance is probably only 6 inches deep so it doesn’t hang a ton over the window.

I am so happy with how it turned out.  There was paint all over the woodwork so the valance needed to stay.  I love how it adds a pop of color to my kitchen.  I love the pattern and blues within the pattern.  It matches the chairs of my kitchen table perfectly and it really ties everything together in my kitchen!  You can see the chair here on my previous posting about my kitchen table makeover.  I have never loved a kitchen more than I love my current kitchen…it’s finally how I want it to look and I’m in love!!