Make a canopy for your bedroom windows.
Canopies create an elegant and romantic backdrop, especially in a bedroom. If your window is behind your bed, a canopy can also make an understated headboard. Since the canopy surrounds the window, it creates a window treatment without blocking the natural light from your windows. Use a cornice to hang your draperies and then tie them back to make a canopy around your window.
Instructions
1. Measure your window width. Add 6 inches to this measurement to allow for space to manipulate your fabric.
2. Cut a box that will serve as your cornice. Cut one piece of plywood equal to the measurement of the window plus 6 inches with mitered edges. Cut two other pieces of board that are equal to the depth you want for the cornice. For example, if you want the cornice box to extend 3 inches from the wall, cut the board at three inches with one mitered end.
3. Glue the pieces together. Apply a bead of wood glue on one side of the long piece of board. Hold the small piece for the depth of the cornice in place and line up the 45-degree edges. Use a nail gun to add nails every 2 inches. Repeat for the other side.
4. Cut a top for the cornice. This board will be equal to the width of the long board with the attached sides. the sides will equal the depth of the side boards. It should fit like a lid being placed on the current cornice. Glue and nail in place.
5. Paint the cornice if you prefer. As an alternative, wrap batting around the front, top and sides of the cornice. Pull the batting taut and staple to the back and bottom of the cornice. Repeat with fabric. Use the same fabric as you will use with the canopy or a coordinating fabric pattern.
6. Hang a curtain rod that is about 1 inch smaller in width than the cornice. Use the hardware that comes with your rod to hang the rod about 3 inches above your window. Remove the curtain rod.
7. Install a ledger board that is equal to the length in between the hardware that holds the curtain in place. The ledger board will provide a foundation for you to mount your cornice board on. Drill screws into the ledger board to secure in place. Your cornice will cover the ledger board and the hardware where your curtain rod will go.
8. Install the cornice to the wall. Drill screws through the front of the cornice board to the ledger board behind it. Drill 1/8-inch pilot holes at an angle every foot of the cornice by the cornice lid. Follow with 2-inch screws to secure the cornice to the wall.
9. Hang floor-length fabric panels on the curtain rod. Hang the curtain rod on the hardware you installed. You now have a cornice with curtain panels coming down from the cornice.
10. Locate the center line of the window. Measure two feet outside of the window frame on the left and right side of the frame. Mark these locations. Screw a large drapery hook on each mark.
11. Gather the draperies that are coming down from the cornice and tuck them behind the hooks. Manipulate the fabric so that it makes an inverted V-shape coming down from the cornice around the hooks to the floor.
Tags: ledger board, your window, coming down, coming down from, down from, down from cornice, from cornice