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.