valance » First Light Designs

A Lofty View

by Dawn Posted on November 24, 2013

Fewer than 24 hours after arriving in Atlanta for our annual Thanksgiving visit with my sister Diane and her husband Ed, my trusty 1975 Elna, stored at their house, was set up and humming away. The project: refashioning a pair of tab curtains into a valance and panels for the loft in their home.

I made the original curtains for our other sister Reigh’s dining room when she and her husband George moved to Idaho in 2008. When they built their retirement home this year, there was no place for the curtains. Diane was only too happy to take them, knowing I could transform them into something when I came to visit in November.

At her last foray to Scott’s Antique Mall in Atlanta, Diane found a beautiful Italian walnut bench from the early 1920s with a cane seat and buttery yellow silk seat cushion. She realized that the curtain fabric would go perfectly with the seat cushion. By the time I arrived, she had a plan.

Here is the loft before:

2013-11, loft before — Before: Loft with Valance

(The bench is deliberately set off center, because it looks better when viewed from below.)

Here is the loft after:

2013-11, loft after — After: Loft with Valance and Panels

Here is the loft viewed from another angle:

And here is a close-up of the fabric (too gorgeous not to be used again!):

beautiful home dec fabric — Beautiful Home Dec Fabric

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Guest Room Glamour

by Dawn Posted on November 29, 2012

When I visit my twin sister Diane in Atlanta, there’s usually a home decorating project in the works. During my current two-week Thanksgiving stay (nearing its end, alas), I made a new bedskirt and window treatment for her downstairs guest room.

When Diane and her husband Ed moved into their present home 10 years ago, I made simple tab curtains for the windows:

The ruffled bedskirt, which I had made several years before, was a carryover from their old house:

This time around Diane wanted a tailored bedskirt and some kind of window treatment that could be raised and lowered. She wasn’t happy with the idea of Roman shades or any variations on that theme, so she came up with her own design: a simple pointed panel in the “down” position that folds and buttons into a valance in the “up” position.

She made a sketch of what she had in mind:

Here is Diane’s vision, transformed into reality:

She had the bright idea of adding tassels on the sides of the panels to disguise the brackets holding the curtain rods. Clever sister!

In the “down” position, the panels just cover the tops of the plantation shutters on the bottom half of the windows, completely blocking outside light:

In the “up” position, natural light floods the room:

The panels measure 34½” wide and 36½” long and are lined with blackout fabric. Five inches from the top of each panel are five self-fabric loops enclosed in a seam. About 21” down from the top are five ¾” buttons covered in the same fabric. The loops and buttons blend into the background so well you barely see them. A deep pleat is formed when the buttons are raised to meet the loops.

Here is a close-up of button and loop:

The fabric is a screen print by Mill Creek Fabrics that Diane found at Frugal Fabrics in Norcross, Georgia. The new pleated bedskirt is made from the same fabric:

The reward for my labors? I’m going home with the castoffs! I’ll probably be able to use the old tab curtains in my own home, and I’ll cut the bedskirt apart and add the ruffle fabric to my stash.

Here are a couple before-and-after shots. First the windows: