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.