Need advice regarding patio door blinds/shades

[harllee]

We are moving into a CCRC in a couple of months and we get to pick out window treatments for the sliding doors going out to the patio. The other windows come with stock blinds. We are meeting tomorrow with the decorator. The windows face east, we get morning sun. We will need something that will block the morning sun and provide privacy at night but we do not want black out shades. We are considering cellular honeycomb shades that can be pulled up from the bottom or down from the top and also considering fabric roller shades. We do not like drapes. We will be going in out out of the door to get to our patio so we need something that will not block our access to the patio. Thanks for any thoughts.

 

[swakyaby]

Perhaps a vertical blind?

 

[MC Rider]

+1. Vertical blinds are great for a sliding glass door.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

I have had a cellular honeycomb shade on my sliding glass door for almost 20 years and will replace it with a new one exactly like it- only a different color.
Mine is a blackout but you don’t have to get them that way.
It opens to the right-and I can push it all the way right and it’s like I have no window cover at all, I can leave it part way open so that we can go in and out easily which is most important in the summer as I have a pool and we swim a lot, or I can close it all the way and we have privacy.
I love this shade! When I got it, it was a debate between this or shutters. I’m glad I didn’t do shutters.

 

[Irishgirlyc58]

 

[swakyaby]

Fully open

 

[swakyaby]

Fully closed. East-facing. 21 years old. Withstands pets very well. Don’t anticipate needing a replacement anytime soon.

 

[swakyaby]

And . . . image is upside down.

 

[Scuba]

We installed motorized roller shades over our sliders. You can get them in various densities that allow more or less light in. The 95% ones are nice - you can see light and shapes through them, but still have reasonable privacy. When the shades are up, you can’t see them at all.

The disadvantage of shades is that they’re either up or down. You can’t partially open them as you can with blinds. Depending on your style, there are blinds made that have sheer fabric in between the slats. They’re very pretty.

https://www.selectblinds.com/custom...KIfgVr79jeloG9BWavwXr3prhsCdvr7RoCuNYQAvD_BwE

 

[Jerry1]

You could get the patio doors with the blind built into the glass. We had a door with a window that had that and loved it. Nothing in your way and nothing to clean.

https://www.andersenwindows.com/ideas-and-inspiration/blog/projects/patio-door-refresh/

 

[DrRoy]

Honeycomb shades insulate well.

 

[badatmath]

Vertical blinds all the way for me. Cheap, easy, pet friendly!

 

[zinger1457]

I had the vertical blinds but recently changed out my sliding patio door with a french style door and it has blinds built in, good so far, will see how well it holds up over time.

 

[Chuckanut]

For my patio glass sliding doors I purchased vertical honeycomb cell blinds that open from both the right and left sides. The side to side control is useful. Very nice.

I knew people with the blinds inside the glass panes. When they break it gets to be expensive. So I was told by the owners.

 

[Midpack]

None of the above. We put Pella sliders in our last home with optional between the glass shades. “Integrated blinds and shades are tucked between glass panes and are protected from dust, pets and little hands.” You can’t accidentally damage or stain them and they can’t blow around when the door is open. We’ve formerly had external verticals, honeycomb and drapes - between the glass is MUCH better.

https://www.pella.com/shop/doors/patio-doors/lifestyle-series/sliding-patio-doors/

 

[Qs Laptop]

I've got two sliding patio doors on my house (built in 1979, purchased by me in 1997.) I've replaced both of the doors. I went with between-the-glass blinds on the main floor door, which goes out to the deck, and went with a set of drapes on the basement walkout patio door.

So, I've had vertical blinds, drapes, and now the built in between-the-glass blinds. By far the best solution is between the glass blinds. But that's not going to help in your situation.

Between drapes and vertical blinds my pick is vertical blinds. If you go this route be sure you get ones with the bottoms of the vertical blind slats connected to each other.

However, if I were to replace the drapes on the basement patio door I really like the honeycombed sliding horizontal blinds that irishgirlyc58 has shown. Since my door faces south and it is in my home theater room I would get the room darkening option.

We are considering cellular honeycomb shades that can be pulled up from the bottom or down from the top and also considering fabric roller shades. We do not like drapes. We will be going in out out of the door to get to our patio so we need something that will not block our access to the patio. Thanks for any thoughts.

If you will be going in/out frequently you do not want a shades that pull up/down from the top or bottom. You'd want a shade that slides horizontally, like Irishgirl's setup.

 

[TrvlBug]

Our wall w/the sliding patio doors and 2 windows also face east and we've always had up/down window treatments, currently roller shades. When we first moved into the house I got tab curtains and tension rods and lived with them for a year to see how the sun comes in. I would never have anything but up/down on east and west facing windows as it allows you to block sun w/o completely closing the shades. The kitties also love it as I always keep the shades a few feet off the ground for their kitty TV.

 

[Music Lover]

Between drapes and vertical blinds my pick is vertical blinds. If you go this route be sure you get ones with the bottoms of the vertical blind slats connected to each other.

We have vertical blinds on the patio door at our cabin. One thing to be aware of is which way they open, ours open the "right" way so that we can have them partially closed and still go in and out. If they opened the other way we'd have to fully open them to use the door.

 

[Qs Laptop]

We have vertical blinds on the patio door at our cabin. One thing to be aware of is which way they open, ours open the "right" way so that we can have them partially closed and still go in and out. If they opened the other way we'd have to fully open them to use the door.

Absolutely, orienting vertical shade openings is critical. Shades that can be pulled up from the bottom or down from the top would have the same problem with entering/exiting, but there is no way to solve it.

 

[pb4uski]

I have had a cellular honeycomb shade on my sliding glass door for almost 20 years and will replace it with a new one exactly like it- only a different color.
Mine is a blackout but you don’t have to get them that way.
It opens to the right-and I can push it all the way right and it’s like I have no window cover at all, I can leave it part way open so that we can go in and out easily which is most important in the summer as I have a pool and we swim a lot, or I can close it all the way and we have privacy.
I love this shade! When I got it, it was a debate between this or shutters. I’m glad I didn’t do shutters.

+1 vertical cellular honeycomb is the way to go. A friend has one.... very nice. We have vertical blinds but only because that is what came with her condo, they're still in good shape and work well, so there's really no need to replace them.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Perhaps a vertical blind?

I will say that if you have cats or dogs, plastic vertical blinds will make a lot of noise when (not if) they play in them, and the plastic can break; I'd definitely get fabric if I wanted that style again. I've had both, and both worked fine except for that one drawback.

 

[swakyaby]

We installed motorized roller shades over our sliders. You can get them in various densities that allow more or less light in. The 95% ones are nice - you can see light and shapes through them, but still have reasonable privacy. When the shades are up, you can’t see them at all.

The disadvantage of shades is that they’re either up or down. You can’t partially open them as you can with blinds. Depending on your style, there are blinds made that have sheer fabric in between the slats. They’re very pretty.

https://www.selectblinds.com/custom...KIfgVr79jeloG9BWavwXr3prhsCdvr7RoCuNYQAvD_BwE

Those sheer fabric shade vertical blinds looks very attractive. If I didn’t have a hairy cat that enjoys sliding behind the shades, I would seriously consider those.

 

[EarlyandLate]

When I bought my condo it had vertical blinds on the bedroom balcony door. It's the first time I've ever had these and I have no complaints. If they broke, I'd replace them with the same thing. Mine have blackout vinyl slats and are probably 15 years old. One nice feature is that you can easily detach the slats. I lay them on an old sheet and clean them with a moist cloth. Easy as pie!

 

[MrsHaloFIRE]

Plantation shutter

 

[harllee]

OP here, thanks for the suggestion. I decided to go with the honeycomb horizontal on the suggestion of the decorator. We will get harsh morning sun so this will help block the glare and heat. They were also reasonably priced. It is costing a chunk to move into the CCRC so I decided to go economical now, I can always change later.