London Shade

I'm working with a very nice couple to do some window treatments for their ahhhh-maz-ing riverfront home. First up is a powder room. 


                 

The style is called a London Shade- but it is just about always a stationary valance.

Here's the inspiration picture they found on Houzz:

Their window is larger, and they didn't want to include the monogram. After studying the picture, this is how I made our version: The top part is a three sided wood cornice box, covered in batting for softness. It is upholstered in white linen with pleats backed in slate blue silk, and trimmed with the blue silk covered cording. Buttons covered in the same silk are centered on each pleat. The shade part is white linen that has been interlined to give it some body, and trimmed on the bottom edge with beaded decorative trim. 

Here are a few shots "behind the scenes". 

 Those little squares are the reinforcements for the buttons on the front. I marked the spots and pre-drilled holes for the buttons before upholstering the cornice box. The final step was using a loooong needle and waxed thread to attach the buttons. 

 The covered bar is a "weight bar" and it keeps the width of the shade uniform when the pleats are pulled up. 

 Isn't this trim lovely? I think it looks like waves and is perfect for a house on the water. This is applied by hand.

True confession time- it never occurred to me when I drew this out that it would be impossible to screw that 2.5" deep cornice board to the wall with the L brackets I installed. No one could get their hand and a screwdriver back there. DUH!! Sooo- the easy fix was to install a mounting board to the wall with the L brackets and screw the valance to the board from the top. Mr. Handy Homeowner did the installation..Carpentry ain't my thing.