Whether it’s a gorgeous set of patio doors or you have a set of French doors in your home office, you probably know that window coverings for doors pose unique challenges. The doors themselves likely make your home look nothing short of amazing, but choosing the right window coverings for doors can be frustrating. Understanding a bit more about the options you have available, though, may help.
Blinds or Shades
As you shop, you’re going to find that your choices come down to two basic options – blinds and shades. While they come in many different styles, materials, and colors, you’re almost always going to be able to boil it down to those two options. It can be a little tough to choose between the two, but considering the primary aspects of both may help.
Blinds tend to be a much harder window covering. Whether you’re looking at the latest wood patio door blinds or vinyl sliding door blinds, they’re all composed of slats that are hung either vertically or horizontally. You lower or pull them across the window, and individually, those slats form a barrier between you and the outside world. Typically they’ve been controlled by a manual cord, but there are a number of motorized window treatment options on the market today. While the slats give you the ability to close them tightly to help shut out the light and give you the privacy they need, they can also be adjusted to let some light in. Blinds were designed for those who want the traditional, classic look in any space.
Shades are a much softer window treatment. They were designed to continuously roll across the door opening, and they usually fit pretty snugly in the space. As with blinds, they work either across your door or up and down, and they can be drawn by a cord or with an electric unit. You won’t find slats with this type of window treatment, and that can mean less ability to control the light coming in. You have to choose whether to raise the shade and let the light in or close it and keep the light out. The only way to change that is to choose patio door shades made from a light filtering fabric, like solar shades, that give you more opacity.
What to Consider
So, what’s it going to be for the glass door – blinds or shades? Still not sure? There are a few things you may want to consider before you make a purchase.
- How Much Privacy Do You Need? This needs to be one of your biggest concerns when you’re trying to decide between shades and blinds for your patio doors. If the doors face your fenced in backyard, it may not be an issue. If, however, they face the street or even the neighbors’ yards, you may need a greater level of privacy. In most cases, the most private window coverings tend to be shades.
- Is Temperature A Problem? Some people have temperature issues with sliding glass and patio doors. If that’s a concern for you, you will certainly want to look into an insulating window covering, like solar shades, that keeps the heat and the cold out and helps your home maintain your ideal temperature. Both blinds and shades can offer you that option, but you may have to do a bit of searching to find the right choice to meet your needs.
- What Level of Light Control Do You Want? If you’re hoping to have that sunlight streaming across the kitchen table day after day, you probably aren’t looking for a window covering with a lot of options. If, however, you only occasionally want that light coming in, you may want to choose a set of patio door blinds that allow you to decide when the light is allowed to come in and when you’d really prefer it stays out in the yard where it belongs.
Whether you’ve made a final decision or you still need a bit of help coming up with what’s right for your space, we’re here to help. Contact us today to learn more about what we can do for your patio or sliding glass doors as well as every window in your home.