Hiding A Detail With A No-Sew Curtain Valance

Is there a detail in your kitchen that you don’t like, but can’t change? Here’s an easy DIY, hiding a detail with a no-sew curtain valance.

Above the sink in our kitchen is a detail that I don’t care for in the least. It’s a wavy strip of wood that connects cabinets together or ties them together. Anyway, it runs  between two cabinets, and I’m not a big fan of wavy. It looks dated to me. And when I say dated, I mean not in a good way.

I’ve thought about just cutting it out. That theory seems simple and a quick fix. But, the more I looked into it, checked everything out, there’s a lot more than that entails. I just don’t want to tackle right now. Bless this old house. If we cut it out, then we have to deal with other things and then there’s a whole lotta yadda yadda yadda.

In the meantime, I just want to blend it in and make it work.

My train of thought was like this – if I could make something that would hide the wavy wood, or make it blend in such a way, I would be golden. For now. A small design fix that could carry the kitchen until we could really spend the time and effort to correct the sitch.

What I came up with was a valance. One with no pleats, no ruffles, just straight and to the point. True, I did have some heart palpitations about sewing and all that, but I opted for another route. Trying to leave all that bobbin debacle out of the equation.

Lord knows…

I turned to my good friend, seam binding tape. It’s like a true life stand-in and packs a strong punch. Simple to use; like, really simple. Almost makes me question even breaking out the sewing machine.

I love me a no-sew project!

With the new tile install, which, looks amaze-balls, I needed a valance that complimented the pattern, and didn’t compete. Bring in the same color scheme, but play a little with pattern. Not too much though, because the tile needs to be the star of the show. This valance needed to be a quiet understudy. I chose this fabric as it brings dimension and blends with the texture of the new tile backsplash.

A quick trip to the fabric store, some seam binding tape and a yard of fabric later, that’s all it takes for a valance.

I already had the spring tension rod, so all I needed to do was cut the fabric, seam bind the hems and I was good to go.

Measure for an allowance, fold, bind, and iron. Y’all, it’s that simple. Totally serious. I kept the raw edges about a half inch so I could fold over and iron for the seams. Ten minutes all in. No bobbin hassle what so ever, TG.

Certainly, later on in life I would like to take on this weird wavy thing, but in the meantime, the valance hides it, and blends it in with the pattern. Absolutely buys me some time on the bigger scheme project. Fine for now, I’m downright pleased. Knowing that, with even the best intentions, projects around here are never quick, this one bought me some time.

For the record, and I mean no disrespect, Sean didn’t even notice. Even when pointed out, he didn’t even notice the wavy strip after 10 years of living here. Yeah, alright, maybe I’m just up against myself, but this gal’s attention to detail is hiding the wavy for a rainy day later on.