After a year of thinking about my guest bedroom valance project, it finally came to fruition. Why did it take so long? Because it took me forever to convince Mike that this über-DIY project was feasible. The plan was to build a window valance out of wood, wallpaper it to match our accent wall, and secure it to the inside of the window. Easy? We were about to find out.
Measurements
What helped kick-start this project into action was that we happened to find two pieces of discarded 50” wide x 14” tall wood–dimensions that were basically valance size. The height was perfect and the width just needed to be trimmed down a bit.
To make the window seem larger, we measured so the panel width would extend 3” beyond the window frame on each side, making the total 40” wide. Now it just needed a way to connect to the wall. The answer was create a short table-like structure to sit over the top of the window frame. Five-inch side boards would hopefully act as a base for a sturdy rectangular valance.
Building the Wooden Structure
We broke out the circular saw and cut our three pieces of wood (the front panel, and the two identical five-inch side pieces). We checked to see if they lined up properly then sanded them until they were smooth.
Now we were ready for assembly. We ran a bead of wood glue where the side panels met the front but for the ultimate stability, we screwed four L-brackets on the inside of the valance.
Prepping the wood for wallpaper
We sanded the wooden structure one more time and gave it a coat of wallpaper primer to make sure the paper would adhere nicely to this unconventional surface.
Wallpapering
At first it seemed like we had more than enough wallpaper to cover this tiny valance, but when we matched up the pattern we barely had paper to make it around the wood. With zero wiggle-room, we booked the wallpaper (the process of activating the paste to maximize stickiness), pasted it to the primed wood, and cut the excess with a Xact-o knife–very carefully. After four hours of drying time, it was ready to hang.
Hanging the Valance
This part was a bit of a two-person juggling act, hence the lack of photos. The plan was to connect our valance to the wall with more of the trusty L-brackets, connecting from the inside of the valance to the outside of the window frame. To do this, we first held up the valance, making sure there it was centered and an inch from the ceiling, then we marked the spots where the four L-brackets would be the sturdiest and drilled into the wall.
Voila!
We have a window treatment that carries the bold pattern of our wallpaper around the room and gives our window a polished look! Now, I’ll admit that this project was definitely time consuming but I’m proud to say, it’s not that difficult to do and way cheaper than having a valance made.
My vintage dresser was originally our media console—partly because it was charming in our living room and secondly, it was a bit too dirty to be holding clothes. But when our 46″ TV came into the picture, our 42″ inch dresser had to return to its original duties. Now how to handle peeling wood veneer and the odd soot stains. . . .Yes, hardware store drawer liners would’ve been the easy route—but you know, that’s just not my style. Wallpapering on the other hand, the chicest and most difficult approach, was the choice I went with. We had tons leftover from 
The dresser as the temporary media center. The plan was to hinge the front drawers forward for the DVD player and stash our movies and remotes in the drawers below–not this mess stashed between the legs.
To get the dresser ready for the bedroom, I dug up our wallpaper paste, measured the drawers, cut the sheets to size, and began. Since the paper was just going to lie in drawers, I figured I didn’t need prime the drawers—wrong assumption. Always prime.
The original seam roller was long gone so I grabbed some Chinese spices from the rack and smoothed out the bubbles that way.
While I was wallpapering, I threw the bedroom desk drawer into the scheme.
At the time, I thought I was crazy putting myself through this decorative labor but each time I open my drawers, I smile. Having a pop of color and a burst of pattern emerge from a seemingly white piece is a priceless element of surprise. It speaks to the bold accent wall across the room, but in a subtle way. The little things can make a room.
I was shopping with my best friend, Elana, in Banana Republic the other day and b-lined for what I thought was a gorgeous dress. She looked at me and started laughing, Anne, that looks like a roll of wallpaper. She was right–but that’s exactly what I loved about it. I often look at the graphic florals and soft geometrics of home textiles and papers and think, I want that in a size four! I guess you have to be a home nerd to understand but for those of you that are…you’ll love this display by York Wallcoverings.
