diff --git a/doc/source/basics.rst b/doc/source/basics.rst
index 38828d5623536..bb65312f053f3 100644
--- a/doc/source/basics.rst
+++ b/doc/source/basics.rst
@@ -509,9 +509,6 @@ arguments. The special value ``all`` can also be used:
 
 That feature relies on :ref:`select_dtypes <basics.selectdtypes>`. Refer to there for details about accepted inputs.
 
-There also is a utility function, ``value_range`` which takes a DataFrame and
-returns a series with the minimum/maximum values in the DataFrame.
-
 .. _basics.idxmin:
 
 Index of Min/Max Values
diff --git a/doc/source/v0.15.0.txt b/doc/source/v0.15.0.txt
index 6b2d2b6aad490..ef8e7b975eea4 100644
--- a/doc/source/v0.15.0.txt
+++ b/doc/source/v0.15.0.txt
@@ -772,6 +772,7 @@ Deprecations
   ``ambiguous`` to allow for more flexibility in dealing with DST transitions.
   Replace ``infer_dst=True`` with ``ambiguous='infer'`` for the same behavior (:issue:`7943`).
   See :ref:`the docs<timeseries.timezone_ambiguous>` for more details.
+- The top-level ``pd.value_range`` has been deprecated and can be replaced by ``.describe()`` (:issue:`8481`)
 
 .. _whatsnew_0150.index_set_ops:
 
diff --git a/pandas/__init__.py b/pandas/__init__.py
index df5e6f567e3a6..69e8a4bad377e 100644
--- a/pandas/__init__.py
+++ b/pandas/__init__.py
@@ -53,11 +53,13 @@
 from pandas.io.api import *
 from pandas.computation.api import *
 
-from pandas.tools.describe import value_range
 from pandas.tools.merge import merge, concat, ordered_merge
 from pandas.tools.pivot import pivot_table, crosstab
 from pandas.tools.plotting import scatter_matrix, plot_params
 from pandas.tools.tile import cut, qcut
+from pandas.tools.util import value_range
 from pandas.core.reshape import melt
 from pandas.util.print_versions import show_versions
 import pandas.util.testing
+
+
diff --git a/pandas/tools/describe.py b/pandas/tools/describe.py
deleted file mode 100644
index eca5a800b3c6c..0000000000000
--- a/pandas/tools/describe.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,17 +0,0 @@
-from pandas.core.series import Series
-
-
-def value_range(df):
-    """
-    Return the minimum and maximum of a dataframe in a series object
-
-    Parameters
-    ----------
-    df : DataFrame
-
-    Returns
-    -------
-    (maximum, minimum) : Series
-
-    """
-    return Series((min(df.min()), max(df.max())), ('Minimum', 'Maximum'))
diff --git a/pandas/tools/tests/test_tools.py b/pandas/tools/tests/test_tools.py
deleted file mode 100644
index 4fd70e28497a8..0000000000000
--- a/pandas/tools/tests/test_tools.py
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,23 +0,0 @@
-from pandas import DataFrame
-from pandas.tools.describe import value_range
-
-import numpy as np
-import pandas.util.testing as tm
-
-
-class TestTools(tm.TestCase):
-
-    def test_value_range(self):
-        df = DataFrame(np.random.randn(5, 5))
-        df.ix[0, 2] = -5
-        df.ix[2, 0] = 5
-
-        res = value_range(df)
-
-        self.assertEqual(res['Minimum'], -5)
-        self.assertEqual(res['Maximum'], 5)
-
-        df.ix[0, 1] = np.NaN
-
-        self.assertEqual(res['Minimum'], -5)
-        self.assertEqual(res['Maximum'], 5)
diff --git a/pandas/tools/util.py b/pandas/tools/util.py
index 215a76b84452a..72fdeaff36ef1 100644
--- a/pandas/tools/util.py
+++ b/pandas/tools/util.py
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 import operator
+import warnings
 from pandas.compat import reduce
 from pandas.core.index import Index
 import numpy as np
@@ -47,3 +48,22 @@ def compose(*funcs):
     """Compose 2 or more callables"""
     assert len(funcs) > 1, 'At least 2 callables must be passed to compose'
     return reduce(_compose2, funcs)
+
+### FIXME: remove in 0.16
+def value_range(df):
+    """
+    Return the minimum and maximum of a dataframe in a series object
+
+    Parameters
+    ----------
+    df : DataFrame
+
+    Returns
+    -------
+    (maximum, minimum) : Series
+
+    """
+    from pandas import Series
+    warnings.warn("value_range is deprecated. Use .describe() instead", FutureWarning)
+
+    return Series((min(df.min()), max(df.max())), ('Minimum', 'Maximum'))