A Delicate Valance...

So I'm back home from my Barcelona work trip (which was loverly and I have lots of pictures to post soon). And by the way thank goodness I flew out on Friday because the ash cloud has made a reappearance! Now it's time to start thinking about another house project. Project! I'm not happy unless I have something unwieldy and ungovernable to get my hands into.

I found this picture on my hard drive, and apologies because I have no idea where it came from, and am loving the overblown, blowsy style of this room, especially the color palette, which is close to ours. But my real question is curtain valances: yes or no?

I don't know why but we didn't order a valance when we got our living room drapes, even though there is a wooden pelmet ready to go and the fittings are just dreadful. But none of the cool houses at Restoration Hardware and Crate and Barrel have them. What do you think? Are formal valances hot or not? I've actually got a couple meters of fabric that will go with our drapes, but haven't yet run them through the machine... What do you think about a window topper? Are they too formal, or just formal enough to look tailored but not tatty?