Custom Cornices & Valances in St. Petersburg, FL

A top treatment is the detail that separates a window that looks finished from one that looks almost done. A cornice or a valance crowns the window, hides the hardware and the headrail, frames the view, and ties the treatment into the architecture of the room. It is also one of the most cost-effective upgrades we make, because it uses less fabric than full drapery while changing the whole feel of a space. We build every one by hand in our St. Petersburg workroom, as part of the wider window treatments lineup we have produced in-house since 2000.

What Cornices and Valances Actually Do for a Room

People underestimate top treatments until they see a before and after. A bare window with only blinds or a shade reads as functional; add a cornice or valance and the same window suddenly looks designed. Beyond the look, a top treatment hides the mechanical parts of a treatment, closes the gap at the top where light and drafts sneak in, and adds height and proportion to a window that needs it.

Cornice and Valance Styles We Build in St. Petersburg

The right top treatment depends on the room and the look you are after. These are the styles that come out of our workroom most often:

• Upholstered box cornices. A rigid, padded frame wrapped in fabric for crisp, architectural lines. The most structured option and a favorite in modern and transitional rooms.
• Soft tailored valances. Flat or lightly pleated fabric panels mounted on a board for a clean, modern softness, ideal in kitchens and living rooms.
• Swag and cascade valances. Draped fabric with soft folds and tails for traditional and formal rooms that want movement at the top of the window.
• Kitchen and cafe valances. Short, practical top treatments that add color and pattern without blocking light or competing with cabinetry.
• Bedroom valances and layered treatments. Coordinated with bedding and drapery for a pulled-together, restful room.
• Board-mounted cornices over hard treatments. A cornice or valance built to crown your blinds, shades, or plantation shutters, so the functional layer and the decorative layer read as one.

Top treatments also pair beautifully with full custom drapery, and we build them in the same workroom so the fabrics and proportions match exactly.

Fabric, Trim, and the Details That Matter

Because a top treatment uses relatively little fabric, it is the place where you can be bold without overcommitting. We work from the Kravet and Stout libraries and the houses they distribute, so you can pull a pattern that picks up a color from your rug, add a contrast band along the bottom edge, or finish the edge with cord, tape, or fringe. You can see the houses we carry on our brands page. At the in-home appointment we bring samples and mock the proportions against your actual window, since scale is everything with a top treatment.

Where Top Treatments Make the Biggest Difference

Some rooms gain more from a cornice or valance than others. Kitchens are a classic, where a short valance adds color over the sink or window without the upkeep of full drapery. Bedrooms benefit from a top treatment that coordinates with custom bedding and pillows for a layered, restful look. Great rooms and tall windows use a cornice to bring a soaring window back to human scale. And almost any window already wearing blinds or shades is improved by a top treatment that hides the headrail and frames the glass, often paired with the right drapery hardware to complete the look.

Getting the Proportion Right

The single thing that makes or breaks a top treatment is proportion, and it is also the thing ready-made valances get wrong most often. A cornice that is too shallow looks like an afterthought; one that is too deep swallows the glass and darkens the room. The right depth is a ratio of the window height and the ceiling height, and the right mounting point is usually above the frame rather than on it, so the treatment adds height and lets more glass show. Width matters too: extending a board-mounted treatment slightly past the window on each side makes the window look larger and the room more balanced. These are judgment calls that come from doing the work for decades, not from a size chart, and they are exactly what you are paying a custom workroom to get right. At the consultation we mock the proportions against your actual window and ceiling, account for crown molding and any obstructions, and adjust the design until it looks intentional from across the room. Get the proportion right and a simple fabric reads as designed; get it wrong and even a beautiful fabric looks off.

Our In-House Workroom: Since 2000

Top treatments are fabrication work, and fabrication is what we do. We have built cornices and valances in our own West St. Petersburg workroom since 2000, which means we can match a valance to your drapery, your reupholstered chair, or your headboard exactly, because the same studio makes all of it. When a window has an awkward mount, a vaulted ceiling, or an impact-window frame, we engineer the treatment for that condition rather than forcing a stock product to fit. You can see finished work in our gallery and read the story behind the studio on our about page.

Custom vs. Ready-Made Top Treatments

Ready-made valances exist, and they share the same flaw as every off-the-rack treatment: they are cut to an average window, in a limited set of fabrics, with proportions that rarely suit your room. A custom top treatment is built to your exact width and mount, in the fabric you chose, at the scale that actually flatters the window. For a detail whose entire job is to make a room look finished, the custom version is the one that does it.

Read more verified reviews from local homeowners on our reviews page before you book.

How the Process Works

• Free in-home consultation. We bring fabric and trim samples, look at the window and the room, and talk through proportions, evenings and weekends included.
• Design and exact measurement. We measure for the specific mount, including vaulted and impact-window conditions, and finalize the style, fabric, and details.
• Workroom fabrication. Your cornice or valance is built by hand to those measurements, with edges and trim finished properly.
• Professional installation. We mount and level the treatment and confirm it sits right before the job is done.

Ready to finish your windows? Request your consultation and we will find a time that works.

Cornices & Valances Across St. Petersburg & Tampa Bay

We build and install top treatments throughout St. Petersburg, West St. Pete, Downtown St. Pete, Snell Isle, Old Northeast, Shore Acres, Tierra Verde, Clearwater, and Seminole, plus the Tampa side of the bay. For larger projects we travel across most of the Tampa Bay and Gulf Coast region.

Ready to give your windows a finished top?

Call (727) 914-5410 or request your free in-home consultation. We are available by appointment, evenings and weekends included.