• French Doors, Patio Doors & Sliding Glass Door Window Treatments

Doors can bring a great deal of light into your home. With that, comes rising temperatures, relentless light and compromised privacy. Covering doors with blinds, shades and shutters is a common practice. But how do you know what to use?

What to Consider

What’s best for sliding glass door window treatments?

There are vertical blinds and vertical shades, shutters that adjust open by sliding or folding, as well as draperies. By adjusting open with the same sideways motion as the sliding door, these choices are simple and convenient. Many homeowners also choose horizontal shades for sliding doors, attaching to the trim at the top of the door, similar to the outside mount of a window shade.

Is there an alternative to vertical blinds?

Vertical blinds have been used to cover sliding doors and large windows for decades. If you’d like to explore other options, we have vertical shades. These are various types of shades and fabrics that are created like their horizontal counterparts, but they are designed to open and close from side-to-side.

• Panel track blinds are wide panels that glide open.
• Honeycomb shades have a vertical shade option.
• Woven wood shades are another choice in vertical shades.
• Privacy Sheers offer filtered light, with rotating vanes that can close for privacy and light control.

What are the best shades for french doors and patio doors?

Most window coverings can be used to cover the glass panes on french doors and patio doors. It really comes down to the right balance of style and solutions. Popular choices include roller shades, roman shades, sheer shades and woven shades. The amount of glass on the door can affect the choices, as well as how they will attach. If the area around the glass is too narrow for normal attachment, or if you don’t want to drill into the door, you can consider the TrackGlide system. This features narrow tracks that adhere to the edge of the frame of the glass, allowing the shades to adjust up and down along the track.

What about door handles?

The knobs or levers of your doors are an important aspect to keep in mind. You want the doors to still function as usual. Based on the layout of the door, how much of the door is covered with glass, and what type of handle you have can all go into the decision-making. Sometimes, you can customize the width of the shades to accommodate the handle, and other times, there are custom door handle cut-outs, like with shutters.