Valances For Large Windows
Buy the best valances for large windows selected and recommended by interior designers. By Peyton Robinson.
Valances for large windows should make a statement while still allowing the beautiful natural light to cascade in. Whether you’re on the hunt for contemporary valances for large picture windows that are crisp and modern or something more subdued and classic for a bedroom, our design experts have put together a list of the best options currently available.
Valances For Large Windows
Buying Guide
Peyton Robinson
Interior Design Expert
From fancy feeding stations to designer crate furniture, Peyton knows how to ensure comfort to your furry companion without compromising on the aesthetics of your home.
When a window is too wide for a standard set of drapes, or when the drapes are very plain, your window can sometimes need an additional treatment to bring it all together. Connect those too narrow drapes or even drapes that fit together with valances.
A valance is a decorative drape or small curtain placed at the top of a window. Valances can range from a gauzy drape to a specially cut and mounted piece of fabric with lace, fringe or other decorations. They can be narrow or wide, depending upon ceiling height and your personal taste.
Gauzy Swag Drapes
Dress up your window with a swathe of gauzy fabric that might complement, match or contrast with your drapes. Caught up at the corners like a fairytale princess gown or like the heavy bunting used to decorate platforms for speeches, swag drapes are easy to install and easy to take down for cleaning. For a little extra, use the braided cord in a coordinated color to catch up the corners.
Simple Gathered Valance
If you make your own curtains, or even if you purchase them, it is easy to create a gathered valance. You will need a metal curtain rod – the old-fashioned kind that are shaped like a bracket, and that have a continuous smooth surface, and a length of cloth or the cut-off bottom of a too-long curtain. Hem the cloth, and sew a piece of fabric wide enough for the rod to thread through it to the back of the curtain, leaving both ends open. Slide the fabric onto the rod, leaving only enough rod exposed to settle it onto the wall clamps. Some curtain sets come with a valance ready-made for this.
Hanging Loops Valance
This is much the same principle as the simple gathered valance, but instead of placing a piece of fabric on the back of the valance, loops made of cloth or cord are added to the top of the valance. It can then be threaded onto almost any sort of curtain rod, including the really fancy ones with the decorative ends.
Simple Box Valance
This works similarly to the Simple Gathered Valance. A piece of fabric is sewn to the back of the valance through which the basic curtain rod can be threaded. The big difference is that the fabric is the same length as the curtain rod so that it hangs smoothly. This is an excellent choice where the fabric design is such that you want to feature it.
Flouncy and Fringy
Sometimes you just want a valance to be really fancy. That is where a valance that’s both swag and is decorated with fringes or lace comes in. You can create miniature swags along the curtain rod to emphasize a jagged bottom edge. The trim might also emphasize the jagged shape by being lower or deeper at the lowest points of the edge.