Kitchen Valances

Yesterday I began the task of hanging the valances sewn from a McCall's pattern sometime ago.  As you can see from the picture below my kitchen eating area was less than cozy.  Long ago, I had tab curtains hanging in my kitchen but wanted a more tailored look so I took them down and my kitchen has remained as pictured since.

This is what the valances looked like before they were hung.  I needed to run an iron over them to get the wrinkles out from being stored away for too long. 

To get a custom made look I had to attach the valances to plywood boards, which I purchased from Home Depot and had covered with material using a staple gun.

This was the tricky part of this project.  I first pinned the valances to the boards, making and spacing pleats evenly apart.  Below is what an attached valance looked like.

The pleats needed ironing to stay put.  You'll notice the top of the board looks unfinished, but that's alright since it will not be seen. 

Then it was time to attach the valances to the wall. I used corner braces again purchased at Home Depot.

I measured and drilled the braces in the middle of the boards and on the ends of each.

Getting the valances attached to the boards on the wall was a little bit of a challenge, however, with help from my husband, my measuring tape and a level the job got done!

Looking better already!

The pleats are still not lying completely flat so I will probably steam them later this week.

But for now, I'm happy.  Next on my list is to make cafe curtains to hang below the valances!