Window Treatments for French Doors

French doors are wonderful to look at, but finding the right window treatment for them can be more difficult than finding window treatments for your sliding glass doors. There are many definitions on the web of what exactly a French door is, but for our sake, we will say it is a double door that opens in the middle with glass panes on each single door. Right away we can eliminate verticals as a viable option as a window treatment since the doors open inwards as opposed to sliding to the side.

To solve this problem, we need to address each issue that a French door has.

1. they open in the middle
2. the door handles can obstruct the panes of glass
3. movement
   

The fact that they open in the middle, we are now looking at two separate treatments for each window pane on the French door. Each window treatment will need to be attached directly to the door which in turn creates another problem. When the door is moving, so will the window treatment. The last thing you want is a treatment that sways and bangs against your door every time you open or close it. And lastly, depending on what type of door handle or knob you have can determine what window treatments will work as well. If your knob or handle does not overlap the window pane or frame, it might no pose a problem. Make note of exactly how much space is in between the outer edge of the knob and the outside edge of the window frame.

Horizontal Blinds for French Doors

Horizontal blinds, or even min blinds can be used for French Doors. If the knob or handle will be an obstruction however, I would not recommend blinds as an option. There just is no good way to make a cutout for a blind, not one you'd want to look at all day anyway. To solve the issue of the blind banging against the door, you can fasten the bottom of the blind permanently to the door. This will hold the bottom rail in place and prevent the blind from banging against the glass when the door is moving. It does however prevent you from raising the blind at all. You can still open and close the slats with the tilt mechanism to control the amount of light coming in.

Plantation Shutters for French Doors

Plantation shutters are always an option for French Doors as well. They can be constructed with an "L" frame which is made for an outside mounted shutter. this simply means the frame of the shutter will be attached outside the window frame as opposed to be set into the frame with a standard window. There are cutouts available on shutters to accommodate door knobs and handles. I would recommend moving down to a 2.5" louver size on a French Door Shutter. A standard 3.5" louver may hit the glass pane or frame when the shutter is opened. If you are dead set on 3.5" louvers, the frame can have a build out installed onto the back increasing the amount of space you have between the French Door and a louver in the open position.

Roll Shades for French Doors

Roll shades are probably one of the best options to consider when trying to avoid problem door handles. The shade itself is slim enough to fit behind any handle. It is also easy to attach and detach it from a tie down system on the bottom to allow for full functionality of the shade, yet be able to tie it down if need be. If you do not like the look of a roll shade when it is in it's up position, you can always have a valance fashioned for you to hide the shade.

Cellular Shades for French Doors

Lastly, you could go with the ever popular cellular shade. Just like a roll shade, it is usually slim enough to avoid any contact with a door handle. It can also out of site behind a valance when in the up position. For a French door, I would suggest going with a cordless cell shade to keep a clean look. If total darkness is your ultimate goal though, this is not an ideal solution for you. Cell shades are made with a translucent fabric and do not block 100% of the light entering your room.

Window Treatments For Sliding Glass Doors

Sliding glass doors, or sliders for short, deserve some special attention when choosing a window treatment for them. Not only are sliding glass doors a fairly large opening, they are also a high traffic area in most homes. Sliders also go all the way down to floor level which can affect your decision greatly if you have small children in the home or troublesome pets. So in addition to the usual factors of light control, privacy, and decor that goes with choosing a window treatment for a normal window, now you also have to factor in traffic flow and possibly safety (such as low hanging cords).

Here are some of the more popular Window Treatments for Sliding Glass Doors

• Vertical Blinds or Verticals
  
• Plantation Shutters
• Cellular Shades
• Panel systems
• Window Film

Verticals

Vertical blinds are the standard option for sliding glass door window treatments in most homes. The main reason for this is they are very affordable, and in this economy, many other window treatments are out of people's budget. There are people who despise verticals, but they are a good solution for a lot of homes. For one thing, there are hundreds of different colors, patterns, and materials available to make verticals. This gives you tremendous flexibility when decorating your room. You are not limited to a handful of colors like you are with some other options.


Plantation Shutters

Plantation shutters can be installed along side your slider as a bypass door. This basically consists of two or more panels that slide in front of each other. Plantation shutters differ from other panel systems because you can also install matching shutters in the rest of your windows for a nice uniform look. The big downside of plantation shutters and other panel systems is they still cover a large portion of your sliding glass door when they are all stacked to one side. This may not be a big deal for some, but for others it can be a huge obstruction to sliders that have a nice view.

Cellular Shades or Honeycomb Shades

Cell shades, sometimes called honeycomb shades, are a great window treatment for your sliding glass door. The reason they are called cellular shades is because the material is made up of sections, or "cells". Think of an accordion and how it opens and closes. When it is open, the instrument expands and when closed, the accordion collapses in on itself. This is how a cell shade works. If you took a cross section of the material while it is open, it would have a "honeycomb" appearance. When the cell shade is in the closed position, the material folds up on itself into what is called a "stack".

Cell shades offer complete privacy, but if total darkness is your main goal, this is not the choice for you. The shade is made up of translucent (it allows light to pass through) fabric, sometimes with a reflective side for blocking heat as well. The fabric is also very fragile and can easily get torn by a rambunctious pet.

Window Film

An often overlooked option is window film. You are probably familiar with window tint for your car windows but never considered a tint or a film covering for your home windows. The fact is, there are tons of options out there. You can get standard black tint for your windows, or if that won't do there are tons of patterns available in floral, architectural, and opaque patterns to suit your needs. You may also be eligible for a federal tax credit if the film or tint you purchase is energy efficient. You need to check with the retailer or supplier for eligibility.

Panel Track Systems

Last on the list is panel track systems. The reason these are listed separate from the plantation shutter panels is because these are fabric panels whereas shutters are either wood, vinyl, or composite. A panel track system simply consists of a track, usually aluminum, that has hanging pieces of fabric, or panels. The fabrics are available in a wide range of colors and varying degrees of opacity to suit your lighting needs. These are ideal for large windows and room dividers as well as a treatment for your sliding glass door.

Window Treatments

What are window treatments?

Simply put, window treatments are anything used to cover or dress up a window. This includes everything from a simple curtain to a more complex window treatment such as a top down bottom up cellular shade. I had never heard of the term window treatment until I started working in the industry. I also never knew the amount of products that are available these days either. We have come a long way from the traditional mini blind, that's for sure!

In this blog I will cover common issues the every day person can run into when choosing window treatments for their homes. I will give you my perspective as a builder of some of these window treatments (I make plantation shutters, blinds, verticals, and am learning how to make cellular shades). This is something you won't get from a designer or salesperson. I am not here to promote the company I work for, rather I am going to provide a resource people can come to and get free information on window treatments.