How to Build and Hang a Window Cornice
Learn how to create your have wooden window cornice box to costume up your window body. Setting up a personalized wooden window valance is a wonderful beginner developing undertaking!
See additional of self-taught DIYer Jenny’s home and guidelines for starting DIYers right here — you won’t want to overlook her gorgeous kitchen and residing area! Moreover browse how to set up simple craftsman window trim around any window.
What is a Window Cornice?
A window cornice is a 3-sided box that frames the top rated of a window. A cornice normally covers—and extends out over—curtain rods, the top rated portion of blinds, and window casings. It can be as tall as you care to make it, straightforward or fancy.
A window cornice is normally solid, like these built from wooden in this tutorial, even though a window valance is usually built from material and additional like a brief curtain at the top rated sell my house fast jacksonville of the window. A wooden window valance “box” may possibly also be identified as a pelmet box, which is normally additional solid than a valance but included in material to match the material.
No matter if you get in touch with it a window cornice, valance, or pelmet, the purpose is to address up the window hardware and give your home windows some existence and design!
Creative Window Cornice Tips
Get innovative with window cornices to in shape the perform and design of your area. Some strategies:
- Include a shelf to the top rated for exhibiting stuffed animals or kids’ soccer trophies.
- Paint the box portion of the cornice a diverse shade than the trim parts.
- Paint the window casing the very same shade as your cornice or vice versa.
- Layer trim items to get a distinctive search or use a router to make a genuinely personalized piece.
- And, if you are putting crown molding up in the area at the very same time as you are undertaking your cornices, you can layout it so that the crown molding operates seamlessly around the area and the window cornice—-heaven!
For my wooden window cornices, I employed crown molding that matched what was already in the area —- really conventional builder-quality stuff that you can locate at any huge box retail outlet. I also employed some ogee trim (also recognised as foundation cap).
How to Make a Do it yourself Wood Window Cornice
Be sure to retain in brain that all of these wooden proportions and trim items are particular to my cornices—-you may want to do a little something diverse. For example, I employed a 1″ x 8″ board for my cornice box, but if you want a taller (or shorter) cornice box, you’d want to get a broader, or shorter, board, and so on.
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Wood Window Cornice Offer Listing
*This is a comfortable and affordable wooden. It typically has knots and is in some cases not straight, so be picky when picking out your wooden. Get the straightest attainable items with the fewest knots. You can use a tougher and bigger-good quality wooden, but it will be additional costly if you strategy to stain your cornice, alternatively than paint it, you will likely want to invest in a bigger-good quality wooden species.
Wood Window Cornice Tool Listing
Do it yourself Wood Window Cornice Box Assembly
Step one: System & Measure
System the search of your cornice. Contemplate:
- What trim, if any, do you want to use?
- Will you stain it or paint it?
- How tall and broad do you want it to be?
- How significantly place do you have over and on the sides of the window to get the job done with?
Measure your window from the outside the house edge of the window casing on a single aspect to the outside the house edge of the window casing on the reverse aspect. Do not evaluate just the window by itself. Consist of the casings!
Your cornice will dangle down above the window and the casings. I chose to increase 4″ (that’s 2″ for every single aspect of the window) to my window measurements. Why? To enable for the width of the edge of the cornice and for a very little place concerning the window casing and the cornice.
Useful Reading through: Universal Tips for Great Looking Curtains
Also evaluate out from the wall to establish how deep your cornice demands to be. Will the cornice dangle above a curtain rod or blinds? The cornice box demands to be deep adequate to lengthen out above any obstacles—-the window casing, blinds, or curtains.
Include at the very least a one/2″ or so to your depth measurement so you won’t have to stress about your cornice scraping up in opposition to your window remedies right after it’s put in.
Centered on the clearance you have concerning the ceiling and your window, as very well as your individual choice, establish how tall you want your cornice to be.
Invest in your elements and make a sketch of your proportions.
Step 2: Cut the Wood Cornice Parts & Crown Molding
I lower all the items for my cornice 1st.
I lower my 1″ x 8″ typical board to duration and lower both of the brief sides at a beveled 45-degree angle employing a miter observed. This piece is the entrance of your cornice box.
For the top rated and aspect items of my cornice box, I needed a shallower width of board, so I ripped my 1″ x 6″ typical board down to 1″ x 5″ (a non-conventional measurement not out there at my local lumber garden) employing a desk observed. I then lower the top rated and aspect items of my cornice box from the 1″ x 5″ board.
For the aspect items, I employed my miter observed to lower 45-degree angles on a single of the extensive edges.
I lower my crown molding and ogee trim, both the entrance and aspect items, mitered to fulfill flush at the corners of the cornice box.
See this put up for guidelines and methods to assist you study how to lower crown molding and other trim — and normally keep in mind to practice, practice, practice on some affordable molding or scraps till you are self-assured with your cuts.
For the ogee trim, established your table to 45-degrees. Go away your blade on heart at -degrees.
For the crown molding, you will will need to established the angles on your blade and desk in accordance to the spring angle of the crown molding you are employing. I employed just about the most standard and extensively out there crown molding there is (spring angle: 53/37). I established my miter (angle on desk) to 31.5-degrees and my bevel (tilt of blade) to 34-degrees.
The biggest piece of crown molding, jogging together the top rated of the cornice box, has 2 outside the house corners.
The still left-hand mitered outside the house corner is lower by inserting the crown to the ideal of the blade. The top rated edge of the crown rests up in opposition to the fence. The miter angle on the desk of your miter observed is established to the ideal of heart.
You will also lower the ideal-hand aspect piece of crown this way. The edge of the aspect piece of crown that meets the entrance piece of crown will be lower at an angle. The other aspect will be flush in opposition to the wall, so it’s a straight-edge lower.
The ideal-hand mitered outside the house corner is lower by inserting the crown to the ideal of the blade. The bottom edge of the crown rests up in opposition to the fence. The miter angle on the desk of your miter observed is established to the still left of heart.
You will also lower the still left-hand aspect piece of crown this way. The edge of the aspect piece of crown that meets the entrance piece of crown will be lower at an angle. The other aspect will be flush in opposition to the wall, so it’s a straight-edge lower.
When reducing crown, I normally increase a fifty percent-inch or a very little additional to the complete duration I calculated ahead of reducing. I’ll do a test in shape right after earning my 1st lower and then trim a very little additional off if I will need to, but with crown, the moment you lower it much too brief, you are out of luck! So I’m normally extremely, extremely very careful and acquire my time to be certain to get it ideal. Retain in brain, much too, that crown has to lengthen a bit previous the duration of your cornice box. If the lower edge of the crown strains up precisely with the edge of the cornice box, there won’t be adequate of an edge still left on the crown to fulfill up with the edge of the aspect piece of crown, which you will want it to do in purchase to get a neat corner.
Step 3: Assemble the Wood Cornice
I drilled holes employing my Kreg Jig together the top rated, inside edges of my entrance box piece and my 2 aspect box items. (If you really don’t have a Kreg Jig, you can be a part of your box jointly by 1st gluing with wooden glue and then employing finishing nails or a nail gun.)
I employed wooden glue to be a part of the mitered edges of my aspect box items and my entrance box piece and clamped it all to dry. Then, I employed my 18-gauge nail gun to strengthen the bond by nailing the items jointly (you could also use a hammer and finishing nails, if you really don’t have a nail gun).
Upcoming, I employed my Kreg Jig screws to screw jointly the top rated piece of my box to the entrance and aspect box items. Now, you’ve got by yourself a box. Time to jazz it up!
Step 4: Attach Cornice Trim
I connected the ogee trim flush to the bottom edge of my cornice box with my 18-gauge nail gun (you can also use finishing nails and a hammer). You can glue 1st, much too, if you’d like to.
Before attaching any trim, however, test the in shape of your corner items to make certain they in shape jointly correctly. 
Make calculated marks all together the duration of your box the place you want your crown molding to be. Then, use a stage or other straight edge to join the marks so you have a line together which to line up the bottom edge of your crown molding—you want it to be stage. Nail together the bottom edge of your crown to attach it to your cornice box. It can be anyplace on the box body you pick for it to be—-flush with the top rated edge of the box or someplace farther down the box. I chose to have a 5-one/2″ hole concerning the top rated of my ogee trim and the bottom of my crown molding.
You can normally increase a shelf to the top rated of the cornice box, which would give the crown a little something to attach to (like it would if it ended up being fitted together a wall and ceiling), but given that on this cornice, I chose not to increase a shelf, I had to glue the corner crown items to the heart crown piece to attach them.
Use painter’s tape to safe the link till the glue dries. Attach the bottom of the aspect items of crown with nails together the bottom edge, just as you did with the entrance piece of crown.
I would suggest in opposition to hoping to nail the top rated piece of the aspect crown to the top rated piece of the entrance crown, as you’ll risk splitting the crown.
Step 5: Complete and Paint Your Window Cornice
Now, use wooden filler on your nail holes and caulk all the seams.
Useful Reading through: Ideas for Caulking Like a Pro
Immediately after the wooden filler and caulk have dried, do a light-weight sanding to make certain a easy completed floor. Wipe away all dust and debris.
I employed a single coat of primer and two coats of paint, allowing anything dry comprehensively concerning coats.
Don’t forget to paint the underside of your cornice box, much too, as it will be visible if an individual is standing near to, or underneath, the window.
If the top rated of your cornice box will be visible, be certain to paint the top rated, much too, but most of the time, a cornice box will be so near to the ceiling that no a single will be in a position to see the top rated of it.
How to Cling a Wood Window Cornice
Cut a 1″ x 2″ strip of wooden just shorter than the complete duration of your concluded cornice box.
Mount it to the wall over the window the place you will be hanging the cornice, employing a stage and 2″ wooden screws. Be certain to attach to studs and not just dry wall.
Retain in brain how much down above your window you want your cornice to hang—-that will establish the place on the wall you set up the 1″ x 2″ strip of wooden (your cornice box will ‘hang’ on this strip of wooden).
You will attach your window cornice box by ‘hanging’ it on, and screwing it in to, your 1″ x 2″ strip, which you have mounted to the wall over your window. It won’t be safe adequate to just ‘hang’ the cornice box on the 1″ x 2″ strip. You will need to screw down via the top rated of the cornice box, in to the 1″ x 2″ strip at frequent intervals together the duration of the cornice box.
To make the work simpler, I screwed my 2″ wooden screws partly in to the top rated of my cornice box ahead of hanging it, so that I’d have a lot less screwing to do right after putting the cornice box in area above the window. Be conscious in the placement of your screws. You really don’t want them so near to the edge that the wooden splits, thus compromising the attachment. Neither do you really don’t want them so much away from the edge that they won’t screw down in to the top rated of your wall-mounted 1″ x 2″ strip.
You can also use the very same principle to make a decorative and/or practical shelf.
In its place of earning a box as you did for the cornice, use just a flat board and increase a shelf on top rated. Attach trim just as you would for the window cornice. I employed an Ook Hangman French Cleat Picture Hanging Kit to dangle the shelf underneath in my kitchen—-functions like a dream! And, of course, you can dangle it someplace other than above a window!
Or use the very same thought to make a bed crown cornice like Cassity did for her daughter’s area right here:
Additional approaches to make your home windows search wonderful:
Do it yourself Window Cornice Before and Afters
And just for kicks and giggles, here’s what all those bedrooms appeared like when we purchased the home and what they search like now (with the window cornices and other updates):
Be certain to pin your favorites to preserve for later on and share with your close friends!
Revealed 05.03.16 // Updated 05.14.20
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About Jenny McArthur
