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Make Them Standalone
Valances don’t have to be accompanied with curtains. In fact, they’re great standalone window coverings in common areas, providing some privacy without sacrificing natural light.
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Make It Golden
For a valance look that’s extra luxe, use gold-colored fabrics. To really amp this up, use the same richly-colored gold hues in your curtains or nearby upholstery too.
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Use the Same Pattern as Your Wallpaper
Ready to embrace a fully coordinated look? Find valances, curtains, and wallpaper all in the same pattern. Your walls and windows will have a perfectly matched look that will be hard to ignore.
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Make It Scandi-Modern
To bring valances into your modern, Scandi-inspired space, pick valances in a flax or oat-colored linen, like LeClair Decor did in the kitchen above.
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Use Extra Fabric Elsewhere in Your Space
Use the patterns and fabric of your valances elsewhere in your space too, like in upholstery or other types of window coverings. If you DIY your valances, this is a great way to use up any extra fabric.
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Use Complementary Colors
Another way to pick the perfect color for your window coverings (and thus, your valances) is to use a complementary color to the color of your walls. When walls are red, use green. When walls are blue, use yellow or orange.
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Try Casual Textures
To bring valances into an everyday space, get creative. Consider using more casual textures like wicker or canvas as valances, or use blinds that double as valances when they’re not rolled down.
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Frame Walls
Valances aren’t just for windows: they can be used to frame other parts of your home too, like beds. We love Emily Henderson Design’s approach to this window covering here, it’s used to frame the wall of beds.
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Try White Valances
To keep your spaces looking bright and airy, use white valances. This is an especially good idea when you’re considering adding these window coverings to smaller spaces, as they’ll prevent it from feeling too busy or closed-in.
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Add Plaid
Plaid is a classic window valance textile, and for good reason. It brings in lots of subtle color and a little pattern too, providing the perfect amount of visual interest for nearly any space.
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Add Them to Farmhouse-Inspired Spaces
Thinking about adding valances to your minimalist modern farmhouse bedroom or living room? Pick a window valance in a gray or off-white. It will work well with any wrought-iron or black accents in the space, and it adds a subtle touch of elegance too.
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Make It Look Softer
For a softer, more casual valance look, use soft fabrics like linen or cotton. Additionally, hang the fabric loosely, creating an unᴀssuming and perfectly put-together look.
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Add a Narrow Valance Box
For a subtle approach to valances that still packs plenty of style, craft a small, narrow valance box that covers the curtain rod and hardware and nothing else. It will be barely noticeable, except by the eagle-eyed.
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Use Accompanying Wall Art
Wall art is a great way to incorporate the colors and textures of your window valances elsewhere in your space. We love the pop of yellow in the wall art in the home office above from Studio Peake—it really draws attention to the stunning window coverings nearby.
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Hang Valances Behind Beds
A teeny-tiny valance can be a great way to hang curtains behind a bed for a subtly royal look. Pick a fabric with a velvety texture to make it feel all the more elegant.
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Try a Boxed Valance
For a more structured and formal valance look, use a structured boxed valance. These bring a historic look to your space, and they’re a great way to coverup unsightly window hardware.
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Use Valances in Kids’ Spaces
Using the same patterns in your walls, valances, and furniture not only adds a unique touch, but a playful one too, making this matching combination a great choice for kids’ bedrooms or playrooms.
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Match Them With Flowers
When adding window valances to a space, make sure the colors in the valances are elsewhere in the room too. One of the easiest ways to do this is through fresh flowers—pick a bouquet with similar coloring as your valance, and add it near your window.
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Try Pastel-Colored Fabrics
Pastel-colored valances bring elegance to your space without feeling too formal, dark, or stuffy, thanks to their lighter-toned look.
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Use Them in Bathrooms
Privacy is an important bathroom window consideration, and valances can help to provide that. Consider pairing a valance with a window covering that covers the bottom-third of a window for an approach that still allows light in while providing plenty of privacy too.
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Match Your Walls
Another great way to pick the perfect color for your valance is by matching the color of your wall. It doesn’t need to be a perfect match—a close-enough color will do. Additionally, if you want to ensure it doesn’t look too matchy-matchy, pick a valance with a pattern on it.
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Make a Gauze Valance
A soft and gauzy valance lets plenty of light in while still adding that elegant valance look you love. This look is easy to DIY too—just trim some affordable gauze or mesh curtains to add these to your space.
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Use Lighter Valances in Dark Spaces
When added to a space with lots of dark colors, valances can help brighten them, especially when the valances are a lighter color, like white, gray, or beige. They can provide a great contrast to the moodier tones elsewhere in your space.
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Try Extra-Long Valances
For a dramatic and custom window look, add an extra-long window valance to cover the length of your row of windows, rather than adding one to each individual window. Though this may be a pricier approach, the result looks high-end and custom made.
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Hang Floral Textiles
Window valances can provide the perfect floral touch to a space too, especially in bedrooms. Hang valances with some flowery accents to get this pop of spring in your home too.
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Add Valance in a Unique Shape
Try adding a window valance in a unique shape, like the one above in the living room from Ashley Montgomery Design, to add plenty of historic and elegant personality to your space.
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Use Them With Rounded Windows
Valances aren’t just for perfectly straight windows. Instead, they can be added to windows with rounded tops too, especially if the hardware can be mounted behind them.
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Try Wicker
Wicker valances are a great way to add a casual touch to a space like a sunroom or kitchen. We love the ones Thomas Guy Interiors used in the space above.
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Pair Them With Your Ceilings
Another way to ensure your valances fit in well with your space is to pick them in colors that match your ceiling. They don’t need to be a perfect color-match—valances in a shade or two lighter or darker than your ceiling will still work wonderfully.
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Go Beige
Though beige valances may seem boring, they’re a great fit for just about any space, thanks to their unique ability to pair with practically any color.