The Best Ways To Match Drapes and Valances

When it comes to window coverings and window treatments, there is a large selection of styles, materials, colors, and textures you can choose from. The best part? You can mix and match them throughout your house to reflect your style! At Budget Blinds of North Glendale, we’re enthusiastic about having your house match your personality, even if your personality doesn’t like matching styles! That’s why today, we’re outlining how to match drapes and valances. 

For some homeowners, this can be as easy as picking out one pattern, but for others, can it be a little more involved than that. So without further adieu, let’s get started! 

Totally Matching Drapes and Valances 

This is when your drapes and valances match, 100%, no exception. We’re talking about the same material, the same pattern, the same colors — everything. This is perfectly fine, especially if you’re going for a minimalist look or prefer solid colors. 

Matching window treatments says a lot about your personality and the feel you’re trying to achieve. It’s very formal and inviting, especially if you’re using warmer tones like gold, cream, or burgundy. It also creates a simple ambience that helps unclutter and “grow” a smaller room. 

You can be as bold as you want with boisterous blues and popping yellows, or as soft as you want with ivories and cream. The choice is yours! 

Mostly Matching Styles

Mostly matching is more common in homes than matching or mismatched styles. That’s because making your window treatments mostly match opens the door to so many different styles and colors. Why? Well, you don’t have to match everything — the patterns can be different and the colors can be different, as long as some elements are still the same. We’ll explain what we mean. 

How to Choose Mostly Matching Materials

The first step to mostly matching is picking the right material. They don’t have to be perfectly matching, obviously, but they should still go together nicely. It’s like pairing a cotton shirt with blue jeans — they just work! 

There should be a main material— one that is used around the rest of the room — and a secondary/accent material. Valences are normally the main and curtains/drapes are normally the secondary due to their depth. Valances are bulkier and are installed over the top of drapes, therefore making them the main fabric helps draw the eye up the window, instead of drowning the view. 

Think about the weight of the material too. Pairing two heavy materials — such as velvet drapes and jacquard (woven patterns on printed cotton) — put an emphasis on the window and make it feel stately. On the other hand, pairing a lighter panel with a heavy valance creates a modern feel that naturally accents the window. 

Coordinating Colors 

Picking coordinating colors is a popular choice. For this style, use the curtains as the main color piece if you want a bottom-heavy look, or the valance as the main tone if you want the eye to be drawn up. 

Here’s how to do it: the accent piece should contain a similar color to the main accent, but it shouldn’t be the focus. For example, you pick a red valance to give your room a pop of color. Try beige drapes with red winding roses in the pattern to bring out the red in the valance without it being too overwhelming. 

Coordinating two fabrics doesn’t necessarily have to be this subtle. It’s also perfectly fine to deviate a bit from the overall colors. If you need help, schedule a free design consultation with us! We’ll happily show you all of the options that fit your style and taste and narrow down which mostly matching drapes and valance combination you like best. 

Completely Mismatched 

When we say mismatched, we don’t mean matching plaid and polka dots. Instead, we mean different fabrics, different colors, and slightly different patterns. 

Different Prints and Materials

For these, stick with the “mostly matching” advice. It’s great to match a solid color drape with a patterned valance, but we don’t recommend trying to match a polka dot valance with plaid drapes. You can, however, match floral valances with lace curtains, or striped curtains with plaid valances — whatever you want, we can help make work! 

Judge fabrics and materials based on the sheerness of the panels — just like we did in the “mostly matching” section. You can do contrasting pairs for the valance and panels — mix sheer and thick, and layer until the look comes together. 

Different Colors

Try not to go too overboard with color — if the room doesn’t have orange in it, then your drapes and valances probably shouldn’t either. That being said, you don’t always have to match your drapes and your valances perfectly. We talked about this in the earlier section, but here, you can take it to the next level. White drapes, a dark blue valance, for example. That’s too safe. What about heavy golden drapes paired with the same blue valance? That’s bold! Just remember to not let them overpower the room. 

Contrasting colors work very well together in this style. They complement each other so nicely that both will pop without fighting for attention. 

All this being said, if you choose a patterned design, we do recommend using the “mostly matching” advice, as patterns can be overwhelming if their colors do not go well together!

Finally, if you need help, don’t forget that the experts are just a call away! The design experts at Budget Blinds of Tempe and Central Phoenix will be happy to help you find the perfect matching, mostly matching, or mismatched drapes and valance combination for you. Call today!