Kitchen Valance Ideas | eHow

Use this simple solution to create a kitchen valance that can be easily adapted to get the desired result. Secure large cup hooks near both ends of the window frame and insert a wooden dowel into the hooks.

Hang standard S hooks onto the dowel and interchange the items hanging from the S hooks, such as kitchen utensils, wooden spoons, old enamel drinking cups, and even cutting boards or silicone mats. Employ any utensil with a hole in the handle for this space-saving kitchen valance.

If you prefer a touch of whimsy in a room, you may enjoy a kitchen valance made up solely of wooden rice paddles. Oriental food shops are a great place to look for kitchen valance materials. Find the affordable rice paddles with the hole already in the handle, or simply drill a hole to hang and connect the implements.

Try a two-toned look by staining half the rice paddles in a warm, rich color, such as mahogany. Finish all the wooden paddles with a protective coat of semigloss, water-based polyurethane.

Make a selection of potholders and silicone trivets perform double duty as a working kitchen valance. Hang from S hooks and remove these kitchen essentials when needed.

Create unique one-of-a-kind potholders by making your own. Plain muslin fabric can be dyed in an array of colors. Construct layers for these homemade potholders by sandwiching a piece of batting between two muslin squares. Bind together with double-fold bias tape sewn on the edge and ending with a loop.

Trace pictures of fruit or food from a child's coloring book onto the front of the potholder and finish with basic embroidery stitches. You also can use fabric paint to stencil the word "EAT" or perhaps "Kiss the Cook" onto the potholders.

Vintage linen dinner napkins make an interesting upper treatment for any kitchen window. Fold down the top corner of the napkin about 3 inches. Sew a straight line 2 inches from the top of the fold to create a casing to slip the curtain rod through. This type of kitchen valance is already hemmed for added convenience.

Slip on curtain clips to hang two or three bamboo place mats or a table runner to a length of raw bamboo cut to measure. Change the look often by switching the place mats or runners to another style.