PORTRAIT


PROFESSION—Drapery hardware designers and manufacturers

COMPANY—Helser Brothers Inc.; 3294 N. Nevada St., Chandler, Ariz.; (480) 497-8191; helserbrothers.com

TRAINING—Self-taught

Fifteen years ago, Mark Helser was building off-road dune buggies while his brother Jay installed draperies for high-end design firms. “One day, Jay came to pick me up for lunch,” Mark recalls. “He was all excited, saying, ‘You have to see what’s in the back of my truck!’” An ornate custom wrought-iron drapery rod with handcrafted finials in Jay’s truck bed fascinated the brothers and served as inspiration for their custom drapery hardware design and manufacturing company.

“We always knew we wanted to start a business together,” Jay says. The brothers previously had tossed around ideas for several other types of products. “Then we noticed blacksmiths would make custom pieces, but they didn’t specialize in drapery hardware,” Mark comments.

The two started Helser Brothers—which sells its products to trade professionals—in 1997, utilizing what they had: Mark’s skills with ironwork and Jay’s knowledge of drapery hardware. Originally, they offered only iron hardware in a single black finish. Today, they design and manufacture brackets, finials and drapery rods using a range of materials. These include delicate wrought-iron spiral, crystal globe and hand-carved wood finials; extruded aluminum rods; and decorative iron-forged swing rods.

“We try to avoid fads,” Jay remarks. Instead, the two develop timeless products that can be customized, depending on the project. For example, their Composer line of finials allows designers to mix different shapes and materials to create unique pieces to match custom draperies.

While the Helsers are constantly coming up with new designs, they limit them to drapery hardware applications. “We are equipped to do anything metal-related, but we choose to do one thing well,” Mark affirms. They owe this mantra to their father. “Our dad always told us to do one thing and be extremely good at it,” comments Jay.

These three pieces (right and below) are from the Artigiani Collection and include the Polaris swag holder, the Hammered rod and bracket capped with the Boca finial, and the Halberd finial with a Twisted Iron Rope rod and bracket.

The Compositions Collection allows designers to create unique drapery rods by mixing and matching hardware. The finial on the top is made of crystal; the finial on the bottom is crafted from wood.

The Twisted Iron Rope rod is pictured with a Small Globe finial; both are shown in a Forge finish. The Manchester finish lends the scrolling Sofia Finial a golden hue.

With a Coal finish, the Vega swag holder has Old World appeal.

Resembling a four-leafed clover, the Sullivan tab post is pictured in the Canyon finish.

Richleau, a square tab post, is from the Artigiani Collection and has a gold leaf-like Crown finish.