The Layers of a Window Treatment

Window treatments add value to your home.  When done correctly you can protect your home from damaging sunlight, have privacy and add beauty to a room.  The trick is finding the right combination of “layers” that work for your budget and design style.

First, you must choose your “bottom” layer.  The bottom layer is considered the “active” part of the window treatment.  Overall the bottom layer is the most important as it ensures privacy and protection of your home and furnishings from the sun.  These types of window treatments generally consist of blinds, shades, shutters, active drapery panels or even window tint.

Next, you begin to design your “top” layer.  This layer is the “non-active” layer and is used to pull in the overall design of the room and provide decorative aspects.  Valances, stationary drapery panels, swags or even cornice boards are all appropriate for the top decorative layer.  They are the eye candy of the room.

When choosing the design of your “top” layer you must consider which type of decorative drapery hardware you will use to suspend the layer.  There are two options to be considered; drapery rods or drapery medallions.  Drapery rods hang straight across the window with the top layer suspended directly below it.  Drapery medallions are also hung across the top of the window, but instead of a rod design they allow the top layer to be draped or suspended from them.  Using drapery medallions allows more creativity in the design of the window treatment.  Drapery medallions can be especially useful in awkward or small areas that do not allow for a traditional drapery rod to be hung or in rooms that have arched windows or bowed walls.  Metropolis Iron has a large selection of drapery hardware and even creates custom designs for those “out of the box” hardware requests!