Cost to Make a Fabric Cornice – 2021

| Last Updated: August 24, 2021

National Average Improvement and Repair Cost

Pro

DIY

Hours:

3.6

4

Cost:

$ 348

$ 135

Would you do this project? According to our survey, 79% of respondents preferred DIY compared to hiring a pro.

Photo credit: susandorbeck.com

The average price to Make a Fabric Cornice noted above is cost data to compare a contractor’s estimate with doing it yourself.

How much is a fabric window cornice? The contractor cost to make a fabric window cornice is $348 vs. doing it yourself for $135. 

To complete a room’s décor, consider adding a fabric cornice to your window treatments. A cornice is a good choice whether yours is a casual setting with blinds or a shade, or a more traditional style with draperies. Whatever the style, a fabric cornice adds a custom touch to any window.

You can have one made of wood and upholstered with fabric at a design and furnishings center, but it’s pricey, and the cost adds up when you have a lot of windows to cover. The alternative: buy a cornice board kit, which includes polystyrene sections with two end caps, brackets, and hardware, and make it yourself for a lot less. You provide the padding and fabric of your choice.

You’ll pay about $58 a foot or $348 to have a 6-foot 36-inch wide cornice board made by a design center. That’s for a wooden board covered with padding and upholstered in fabric. The installation charge will be more. You can make one yourself from a kit for about $135 and save 71 percent.

Even if you don’t sew and don’t consider yourself crafty, you can do this. You will need a measuring tape, glue gun, and scissors. A utility knife and straightedge will help you make a straight cut on the ends of the panel. Then glue the two ends to the panel, position the fabric and padding, and glue in place. Fasten the brackets to the wall and install the cornice on it.

A cornice board is usually sized to cap the top of a window so measure the window and add four inches (two inches for each side) to that dimension to determine the width of the cornice.

Here’s a website with cornice kits: DIY Decorator.

That sums it up. Knowing the average cost to make a fabric cornice lets you compare doing it yourself with having it custom made. You can expect to pay a handyman an additional $210 to install the unite. 

Welcome! We hope you’ll find the job costs of home improvement projects useful when you’re deciding whether to do a job yourself vs. hire a contractor. We’re the authors of 20 home improvement books, most notably Home Improvement for Dummies©, Bathroom Remodeling for Dummies©, Carpentry for Dummies©, Plumbing for Dummies©, and Painting and Wallpapering for Dummies©. Our most recent book Fix It and Flip It is in its second edition. We’ve appeared as home improvement experts on television programs such as CNN, Dateline, the Today Show, HGTV and many others.