Thanks everyone for your thoughts. I'll try a wider strap. What I had initially thought was to use the same fabric in a 2" strip and put the ribbon overtop, but will also look for a green/blue ribbon. It's hard to find a color in ribbon that isn't a true blue or green which wouldn't go with the walls. I'm also going to try pulling the valance in to poof it a bit and shorten the straps. I could redo the brackets and move them in if I needed to! :-( I already have to fix the holes from the previous rod - another set wouldn't be that bad. I used 1 1/4 yds in length. My comments on this project are that it took me the longest time to just get the fabric cut with straight edges with the pattern straight across. Sounds simple, but isn't always with slippery fabric. A solid or very small print would be easiest to handle. Also, my window is pretty wide - 54" across trim edge to trim edge. I think if I had a narrower window or more fabric, it might have turned out better. But also, the linen fabric tends to drape vs. puff, so be aware of what fabric you're choosing and how heavy it is - or how much natural stiffness does it have to poof a bit. I think that's why mythreedog's red and plaid silk valances look so nice - they're narrower windows and the silk had some body to it to begin with. Bigdoglover - thanks for your comments. Actually I've thought about painting my trim an off white color, but haven't gotten there yet. Don't know if I'd like it to be the same as the walls. I like some contrast for the trim.

Thank you! The table kitty is Kira who is 7 1/2 years old. She is very shy and avoids people even me. She loves the dog Duncan and hangs out with him. The first two days I was in the new house Kira came to sleep on the bed with me and some of the other kitties. But now she went back to her old ways. She basically lives in the dining room. She sleeps on that chair in the corner, or on a chair, or on the baby blanket I have under the far dining chair. She is near the food and water and litter box. A kitty who likes convenience I guess. Her sister Kelly is the opposite. She is always sleeping on the bed and is very friendly to me. Getting this dining room cleaned up and decorated has lessoned my stress and made me feel better. Now I am working on the master bedroom. Got my bedskirt back on and hung hooks on the wall for the old pantry door which I use as a headboard. I took the door from my 80 year old house back in WI. I think I have the hooks in the studs. So when my friend Ivett (who watched the cats and dog while I was in the hospital last week) comes today (we are going out to lunch) I am going to ask her to help me hang the door. I used to be able to do these heavy things myself but not right now. Thanks again.

I just purchased this vintage pair of green gingham valances from Etsy. I'm going to hang them on tension rods inside the window frames in the breakfast area instead of hanging them outside the frames as my current valances are hung. That way the window trim will be highlighted and should look nice, fresh and crisp once painted white. At any rate, these gingham valances were practically a steal so I couldn't pass up the opportunity to at least conducted this little experiment! Plus they really remind me of curtains I had in my room as a child. Apparently we lived with a lot of green and white checks in our house when I was growing up! And you know what I mean by the snowball effect, right? If the valances work, then my chandelier shades will likely need replacing. And I just realized my kitchen ceiling fan blades have GOT to be sprayed white now. Never. Ending.

Thanks everyone! Fori, see below. I used to have it "dressed up" a little more--a nice table runner, decorative stuff on the counter, but we've dissolved into "clean functional" around here with an 18 month old. I have an open floor plan, so all the rooms run together. As for the side of the fridge, it was a compromise between my clutter phobias and hubby's love of photos/magnets/etc. I will try to find the name of the paint, it was the builder original when we bought it, though I'm going to have to repaint this lovely flat with a more kid friendly version (same color though). I have closeups of the tile, too. It's the Lowes AO basic subway tile. I like it because it has some bevel and a much warmer white than the HD version. The bullnose pieces are limited, but hubby did an excellent job of manuvering around that. 30 square feet was about $100 with all the thin set, special pieces, grout, etc. From Kitchen From Kitchen From Kitchen From Kitchen From Kitchen From Kitchen From Kitchen