The Best Window Treatments for Sliding Glass Doors

Sliding glass doors are one of the trickiest openings in a home. They’re wide, they get used dozens of times a day, and whatever covers them has to get completely out of the way when you walk through. A shade that works beautifully on a window can be a daily annoyance on a door.

Here’s how we help clients in Central Illinois, Chicagoland and beyond choose.

What a sliding door covering has to do

• Clear the opening. The covering should stack neatly to one side so nothing blocks the path to the patio.
• Handle wide spans. Many patio doors are six to eight feet wide or more, so the system needs to move smoothly across that distance.
• Control light and privacy. Doors often face the backyard and the afternoon sun, so you’ll want options from soft filtering to full privacy.
• Stand up to use. Kids, pets and guests will touch it constantly.

Our top choices

Luminette® Privacy Sheers

Luminette® is the one we recommend most often for sliding doors. Soft fabric vanes sit inside sheer panels: rotate them to let in filtered daylight or close them for privacy, then draw the whole panel to the side. It has the softness of drapery with the light control of a vertical blind.

Skyline® Gliding Window Panels

Skyline® uses wide fabric panels that glide past each other on a track. It’s a clean, modern look that works especially well in contemporary homes and on very wide openings.

Vertical blinds, updated

Vertical blinds have come a long way. Today’s custom vertical blinds come in vinyl and fabric styles that look far more refined than the rattling blinds many of us grew up with, and they remain a practical, durable choice.

Drapery

Custom drapery on a traverse rod or a motorized track frames a door beautifully and softens a room. It’s a great choice when you want the door to feel like part of the room’s design rather than a utility opening.

Should you motorize it?

For wide, heavy or hard-to-reach doors, motorization is worth considering. With PowerView® automation, panels can open in the morning and close as the afternoon sun hits, without anyone touching them. Many of our clients start with their patio door and add more rooms later.

The easiest way to decide

Every door is different: the direction it faces, how often it’s used, the look of the room. During a free in-home consultation, your designer brings samples to your home so you can see each option on your own door, in your own light, before anything is ordered.

Prefer to see them in person first? Luminette, Skyline and vertical blinds are on display at our showrooms in Champaign, Normal and Orland Park.