Curtain questions

I am trying to hang curtains in our dining room and I have a few questions.

I have a bay window that has cellular blind. I am just doing 2 panels with tie backs.

here are my questions:
1. is it safe for the curtains to touch the base board heating?

2. How high do you hang your curtain rod above the top molding? It won't have a valance in between the 2 panels so will it look funny if I raise it up 8 inches or so above the top molding?

thanks

Re: Curtain questions

I haven't had any problems with the curtains touching the baseboard heating.
Will the panels touch in the middle to hide the molding?