All this writing and talk of ticking has helped me to my own small personal epiphany. I have been stalling on making the window valances in my elder daughter’s room at the shore for a while now, but have finally found the right person to construct them.
I have quite a few yards of Bennison‘s gorgeous Lilac linen earmarked for the project as the room has six windows – two sets of bays. The windows and the incredible light are really the focal points of the space and I only want something simple to frame them. In general, I don’t use curtains in the bedrooms at the beach, preferring plain roller shades for light control hidden behind the valances during the day. The rooms are all so petite that curtains just take up space and seem heavy for the lightness of the environment. I never understand beach projects with yards and yards of heavy curtains! It is also a great way to use less yardage of beautiful and thus expensive fabrics. I have been searching for the right person to make these as sometimes the fabric is so dear – both emotionally and/or financially – that the expense of the fabricating is less important than the fabric itself. The thought of them coming out wrong is unbearable because I simply couldn’t buy the fabric again, either because it was one of a kind vintage or just plain old costly.
The ceiling in the front bay behind the headboards is quite easy to deal with because it is just straight, but the side bay has a complicated ceiling and the corners of the window molding are cut off. I can’t tell you how many people came through my door and couldn’t or weren’t willing to work with me on solving the problem of those cut corners, suggesting ridiculous things like having the molding show above the valence.
My plan for the valances has been simple scallops which mimic the curvature of the headboards and the clover shaped night table in between the twin beds. The valence below is in Cath Kidson‘s bedroom in another wonderful Bennison roses pattern called Daisy Chain (you already know how much I love their Faded Floral and I’ll be showing how I used their monochrome blue Roses on beige linen soon). Kidson’s window is flat, so she is able to run a single piece valence with small scallops. My bays require a bit of a different treatment, with each window having one single large scallop.
Luckily my lovely new curtain lady understood exactly what I want, where I want them to start from and how I want them to hang. She took some iPhone photos and created this rendering. While lovely, it is a bit too fancy for me (and my daughter) with the green ruffle in between the scallops – too “decorator-y” if you know what I mean. That said, without some kind of border or contrast the Lilac fabric might look diffused, without punctuation, and I think that issue was what she was trying to solve by adding the secondary fabric. If you look back at the Cath Kidson photo, you’ll see there is a contrasting edging.
So in all these recent posts on ticking fabric I keep coming up with examples that mix well with Bennison florals and scallops. And it got me thinking…
Don’t I have some great lilac ticking put away in my magic fabric closet? And ridiculous me, don’t I have a photograph of it stored somewhere in my files?
Yes!
I don’t remember how much I have but this is real vintage ticking. What if the scalloped Lilac fabric was piped or bordered in it? I think that might be just the bit of sporty casualness it needs while also defining the edge of the large print. What say you all? For a little visual assistance, here is a mock-up, but keep in mind the scale and color is off.
I really enjoy these great monthly newsletters from Bennison – its easy to sign up for them if you are interested. There are always prettily styled photographs, like this one featuring the Lilac in this post as well as the newest Bennison design information. The most recent newsletter features the same photo of a room with ticking plus a Bennison floral pattern that I just used in my ticking post!
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Mary Doveton
I wasn’t familiar with Bennison fabrics until you mentioned them on Tokyo Jinja. I just went over to their site and I can see why you are so enamoured with them. That dreamy lilac print fabric would be lovely with the ticking. Usually when you make piping the fabric is cut on the bias so the ticking would be on the diagonal like a candy cane which I think would look really cute.
Tokyo Jinja
Mary, I wish you could see them in person – they are even nicer than in photos. And yes, if the valance is piped, it would be on the bias, but showing that was certainly beyond my computer skills!
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joni webb
so cute! have you thought of buying some trim tape? Pindler just came out with some great ones. i’m only worrying that the ticking is so much darker looking than the bennison. might not be that way in real life?
Tokyo Jinja
They are actually the same color – off white background. Just the vagaries of my camera vs the professionally photographed lilac. But I will probably have to wait until Christmas break to see the two in person together. I just get so excited when I find ways to use things that I have been socking away over the years!
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Vanessa
Love it. I like floral with ticking. Mixing casual with a dressier partner 🙂
Anita
The ticking looks perfect with the Lilac Bennison fabric. I takes it to the beach, so to speak. The room looks so fresh & clean & cool & the valance will dress up the room, but not too much. Just right. I can’t wait to see it. G must love it.
feltsocute
I think the two are ideal together! The linear and floral are a great marriage for both the beach house’s aesthetic and G’s personality. Anything more would be way too frou-frou for her and the room, but the ticking brings it “down” a notch in a great way. LOVE it. And I always think lavender is a lovely choice for a tween/teen – feminine without being quite as over the top as pink tends to be.
Tokyo Jinja
And the color of the room is actually much softer than it looks in the photo.
Loi Thai
Bennison is one of my favorites. Love anything from them. Their fabrics are indeed pricey. Decorating is so personal…..with that said, I would not pipe or trim the lilac pattern with another pattern. From afar, the ticking trim will come across as muddy and blurry….especially on the bias. The ticking would be splendid on pillows or on a chair in the room. Beautiful fabrics!
Tokyo Jinja
Loi, I was disappointed with another valence I had made recently, in a Kathryn Ireland fabric, because it lacked punctuation. So we will see on this one – but don’t worry I won’t rush in with the ticking if it doesn’t look good.
Loi Thai
If you have extra Bennison fabric….send it my way 🙂 My all time favorite atelier.
designchic
I love Bennison fabrics and yours is so pretty – love the use of the ticking – perfect juxtapostion!
Tokyo Jinja
Thank you!
Andrea
Wonderful idea, it will be beautiful!