Friday

DIY Foamboard Valance

Continuing on with my mini kitchen makeover today.  I wanted to do a cornice board above the window but didn't want the hassle of messing with a saw and wood and all that.  I also didn't want to spend a whole lot on it.  So, enter foam board.  Foam board is great, it's stiff enough to hold it's shape, lightweight, and easy to cut.  It's perfect for this sort of thing.  I chose to do a pretty basic rectangular shape just to keep things simple, but you could do any shape really.  

Start out by purchasing a piece of 1 x 2 at your local hardware store.  I got mine at Lowe's for a few dollars and had them cut it for me.  We have molding above our windows so I had them cut this piece slightly longer than the width of the molding to give me a little wiggle room.  




Then, measure your foam board and draw a line where you are going to cut


then use your 1 x 2 as a straight edge to cut your board using an exacto knife


You will cut one large piece and then two smaller pieces for the sides.  Next, attach it to the 1 x 2 using some small screws.  The foam board I used was not long enough so I just pieced it together with some packing tape.

  
Then, you will cover the whole thing with a layer of batting and your material.  I chose to staple them both at the same time.  Don't press very hard with your staple gun because you do not want the staples to go all the way through the foam board.  This part doesn't have to be perfect because you are never going to see it.  


For the fabric I used a leftover IKEA curtain panel I had in my stash since they come in pairs and I only needed three panels for the baby's nursery, leaving me one leftover.  I like the subtle texture but the plain white and plain shape needed some oomph.  I originally planned to use ribbon I bought on sale at Hobby Lobby for a few dollars.  I taped it on there as a trial run because I wasn't sure if I would like the color or not and I'm glad I did.  This color just screams Merry Christmas to me, not quite the right shade of green.



So, onto plan B.  I planned to just tape off the design with frog tape and then paint it with a little fabric paint.  That's when I realized the frog tape was very close the the green I was going for.  So I took the lazy easy route and just used the tape to create my design.  You really can't tell it's tape, it just looks like ribbon.  Eventually I would like to use this stencil and create a trellis design that mimics Kelly Wearstler's trellis fabric.  So this temporary fix works great for now.


I just have mine resting on the ledge of molding at the top of the window because it's so lightweight it's not going anywhere.  You could screw it into the molding if you wanted to make sure it stays.  If you don't have molding above your windows, you could just screw another piece of 1 x 2 into the wall above the window to use as a ledge.  So there you have it, a very easy, inexpensive faux cornice board window treatment. 

on a side note, check out the cool vintage water bottle I found at the depot the other day.  Isn't it neat?  It's made out of glass, crazy how they used to make water bottles out of glass.  I guess as the old saying goes, they don't make things like they used to.




8 comments:

House of Clark said...

Love the updates. We also didn't get to choose the colors and finishes that went into our kitchen so I appreciate the little details and the impact they can have. Can't wait to see more.

Ordinette said...

Just fabulous!
Laura

Desiree's Tale said...

I always love when you update with your diy projects. They always come out looking like they cost a fortune. Thanks for sharing.

The Jones' said...

Please, please, please do a FULL kitchen reveal!!!!

Robyn Lucas said...

Such a cute idea! More pics.

Unknown said...

Where did you get your glass canisters?? Mine don't have any type of seal to hold it air tight =/

Dwellings by DeVore said...

I got them at Hobby Lobby.

Dwellings by DeVore said...

The favorite part of the house which I
love the most is the kitchen because I really love to prepare and cook variety
of foods and serve it to my family. Moreover, your kitchen is quite great to
look at .In addition, I know that you would also love to prepare and cook foods
thus I would suggest that you install business
card holders
in your kitchen where you can place your copy of recipes
so that you will easily find it when you wanted to cook that dish again.

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