candy stripes

Certain elements of apartment architecture make no sense.  Take this beam over my sink for example:

Why?  Maybe it braces the cupboards in some way, since each set only touches the wall on one side.  (The cupboards on the other side of the kitchen run wall-to-wall.)  If this is a support mechanism of some sort, well, fine, but it's kind of ugly, no?

My lack of enthusiasm for this strange beam, paired with my remorse over not having a kitchen window, got the wheels turning in my head.  How could I disguise that horizontal piece and bring a bit of light over the sink?  I'll tell you.

I enlisted help.  My friend Molly is a sewing-machine whiz, so she kindly whipped up a valance for me out of some candy striped fabric I bought.  There's still no color scheme for the kitchen; I'm working on it, but I figured a patterned valance would give me color choices to play off of later.  Here it is:

The black cord in the bottom corner runs up to a clip-on desk lamp I clipped over the beam.  I turn it on when I do dishes, and it nicely illuminates the task at hand.  Let me show you a better view of the "sunshine" I see out my "kitchen window."

It reminds me to smile...how can I resist when I see those blissed-out celestial friends?