Proper Drapery Medallion Sets Ensure Beauty and Function

Providing decorative metal products means we attend many trade and interior design shows throughout the year. I recently attended a show and was in dismay when I saw the window treatments at the chosen venue. As you can see from the photo to the left, the drapery medallions that were used in this setup have turned, are very crooked, and haven’t maintained their installation. This situation could have been avoided if the drapery medallion fabricator used the correct drapery medallion hardware set. Here at Metropolis Iron, each drapery tieback set includes hardware to ensure that your window treatment is professional and eye appealing.

A proper drapery medallion set consists of two pieces. The front decorative piece is considered the actual drapery medallion or drapery rosette. A stem is attached to back of the decorative medallion piece which is made of 3/8″ solid iron. This stem fits into the sleeve of the next piece of the medallion hardware set, the wall mount bracket.

The wall mount bracket consists of a back plate with 1/2′” square tubing for the stem for the decorative medallion to fit securely into. There is a set screw so the medallion can be locked into place thus avoiding the twisting you see in the above photo. The sizes of back plates differ with medallion size. For small to large drapery medallions a 2-3/4″ (+/-) back plate is generally used. With larger drapery medallions, a 3-1/2″ (+/-) back plate is used to compensate for the additional weight and size of the piece. By special request of local interior designers, Metropolis Iron fabricates each back plate with three points of contact to the wall. We have found that two points of contact are not enough to stabilize the medallion, while four points of contact can compromise the structural integrity of the wall. Attaching a round “stem” to the drapery medallion as seen below allows for designers to rotate the decorative medallion into their ideal position. This is particularly useful while working with square medallions as they can be turned into a diamond position creating a completely different look for your window treatment. Our drapery medallion sets come with a standard projection of 3″, but as with any product from Metropolis Iron, they can be custom fabricated to any length by request.

Ensuring that your drapery medallion set is complete and well fabricated can be the difference between a window treatment nightmare and window treatment bliss. If you are looking for strong installation and flexibility in creating your window treatment, try out Metropolis Iron’s exclusive two piece drapery medallion sets.