Do It Yourself Decorating

If you don't mind working with wood, or know someone who can build the form for you, you can really go hog wild designing a cornice!

You can make any shape for the cornice front, from an Apple to a Zebra. Doesn't matter. You just need to have the top and or bottom shape outline, and you finish it by painting in the rest of the design. Cheap, fast and easy to do.

Besides painting your cornice, you can wallpaper it, add a border, nail, screw or glue stuff to it (toys, baby shoes, silk flowers, beads, rocks, seashells).

Upholstering a cornice is a little more tricky, but still doable. Just keep in mind that smooth rounded inside and outside corners are easier to get fabric to fold over for stapling, when you are deciding on your design. Again, if you don't have a stapler, there are the spray adhesives that work great!

Remember to add trim (gimp, fringe and braid) to your cornice to hide the uglies where things didn't go quite as well as you had hoped. Did you tear or poke a hole? No problem! Cover it up! Make it look like you meant to put that "silk flower" there, or whatever you're using to hide your sins!

fabric covered

~ Arched Fan Window Treatment - It's not really a cornice, but here's an easy way to add architectural interest to your windows.

~ How to make an upholstered cornice. Includes full instructions with photos so you can see the work being done.

~ Make a low cost Box cornice- Be sure a click on the diagram on the right side of their page to see an enlarged view.

~ Make one from Foam-Core - The fabric is as easily changed as your moods!

~ Here's more start to install upholstered instructions.

wooden

~ How to build a wooden cornice.

~ Build a wooden one that uses Crown molding

~ A shaped bottom cornice that's painted to look like fabric!

~ Here's one made out of cardboard. I know, I know. It's cute though!

~ This cornice is combined with a bookcase and draperies to use as a headboard/canopy.

~ Faux Copper Patina finish for an old or a new cornice with Crown Molding.

~ This cornice is Crackled and Stenciled with matching Stenciled Roller Shade.