The Best Patio Door Window Treatment Options for Your Home

Your home’s patio doors bring a few big benefits. They allow lots of natural light, let you slip from the kitchen or bedroom to the backyard with hardly any effort, and make it easy to enjoy fresh air from time to time. But bare sliding glass doors also have some downsides:

• Sometimes, they let in too much light, especially if your patio doors are west facing.
• They sacrifice some privacy for visibility.
• They could let heated air escape, especially in winter, and increase your electricity bill.

Luckily, your patio doors don’t have to stay plain forever. The right window treatments for patio doors, in fact, can solve all these issues and let you decorate these expansive glass surfaces for added curb appeal or personal aesthetic enjoyment – or both!

Not sure where to start? Let’s take a look at seven patio door window treatments ideas that might be perfect for your home.

1. Full-length curtains over patio doors

Sliding door curtains are very popular window treatment ideas for sliding patio doors. Just like tall, thick drapes, sliding door curtains are fantastic for both maximizing privacy and blocking out excess sunlight in the morning or evening.

Curtains are also prime treatments because they are quick and easy to install. With the right color and material, they’ll add a bit of drama and style to your living room, kitchen, or bedroom without removing easy access to your patio door.

For added elegance and aesthetic flair, consider picking up some sliding door curtains with fabric patterns or designs on their surfaces. Swirls, geometric designs, and more can bring some much-needed visual complexity or intrigue to an otherwise stark or basic space.

2. Blackout curtains for extra shuteye

Want even more privacy, or do you work the night shift and need plenty of darkness in your bedroom when you come home in the morning? Blackout curtains are just the ticket.

Blackout curtains are heavy and thick enough to block light, even at high noon. Therefore, they’re great patio door window treatments if your door leads to your bedroom or living room and you don’t want to make falling asleep an unnecessary challenge!

That said, it’s best to pair your blackout curtains with energy-efficient patio doors or windows, like Window World of the Blue Ridge’s Sliding Patio Door series. Why? With insulating glass, those blackout curtains will be less likely to fade from exposure to UV rays over time. Plus, they’ll work alongside your energy-efficient windows to keep heat inside instead of escaping outside – a major benefit as we get closer to chilly winter weather!

3. Vertical blinds and cellular shades for patio doors

Vertical blinds are perhaps the most common patio door window treatments option overall. There are a few big reasons for that:

• They’re easy to use – so easy, in fact, that even kids can move them side to side without issue.
• They’re great for privacy and light control, especially when installed behind wide patio doors or French/hinged patio doors with a lot of surface area.
• They’re attractive and collapse very efficiently, so they are also popular in Blue Ridge homes with limited internal space.

You can find beautiful, functional vertical blinds in materials ranging from PVC plastic to faux wood or fabric. That's good for you since you'll likely be able to find the perfect blinds for your Blue Ridge home's interior décor in no time at all.

Still, you might want something with a more unique flair or appearance. That’s where cellular shades might be superior window treatments for sliding patio doors.

Vertical cellular shades can be opaque or transparent, but in either case, they look and act like accordion-style window covers. They’re exceptional options for a more energy-efficient home, especially if your patio doors are situated in rooms with many other windows.

Also called honeycomb blinds, cellular shades trap heat inside and regulate your home’s temperature better than many other window treatment options. However, keep in mind that cellular shades can be pretty expensive, and softer materials or shade types can be broken easily – not necessarily a rarity if you have pets or kids that go through your patio doors often!

4. Patio door roller shades

Need something that can fold up and out of the way when you aren’t using them? Sounds like roller shades could be ideal for your Blue Ridge home.

Roller shades start off as a single piece of flat material, but they roll up whenever you want to look outside or open a door or window. Like many of the best window treatments for patio doors, roller shades are available in many colors, styles, and materials. Some are even automated, so you can roll them up or down with the touch of a remote-control button.

That said, roller shades go nearly down to the floor, which could be problematic with an inquisitive puppy or toddler that might pull on the bottom. Roller shades might also look a little odd in front of a door rather than a big window, even if most of its surface area is the same glass as your home’s new energy-saving windows!

5. Sliding panel track blinds

For a more unique patio door décor solution, consider sliding panel track blinds. These elegant patio door window treatments are installed on a track above your door, and you manually extend or collapse them when needed.

Compared to other patio door window treatments, track blinds look minimalist and streamlined, so they’re excellent if the rest of your Blue Ridge home’s interior or window treatments follow similar sensibilities. But keep in mind that sliding panel track blinds can be pretty fragile, and you may need to practice moving them back and forth a few times to avoid pulling them off their guiding tracks.

6. Roman shades for patio doors

So-called Roman shades combine the ease of use of blinds with the fabric aesthetic of the best curtains. In a nutshell, Roman shades have an inner cord that, when pulled, folds the shades back into a compressed form. Roman shades don't fold up as tightly as roller shades, but they still draw back their surface area quite neatly when they don't need to be deployed.

To use Roman shades efficiently with your patio doors, choose a single large Roman shade panel that covers both sides of your patio door at once. Alternatively, you can pick two smaller Roman shade panels – one for each half of the sliding glass door – and give yourself more precise control over natural light levels and privacy.

7. Plantation shutters

Last but not least are plantation shutters, which have guiding tracks similar to those of sliding panel track blinds. However, plantation shutters feature wood or faux wood slats that can vary in size. Thicker slats allow more dramatic slices of light inside, while thinner slats look a little more elegant.

You might prefer plantation shutters for your Blue Ridge home if you have a colonial-style property. Since patio doors are comparatively modern-looking, plantation shutters can dress them up in a classic way that harkens back to earlier times. You can also pair them with hurricane-resistant patio doors, like Wincore’s 8800 Series – they’ll look sturdy and stylish at the same time.

With so many patio door window treatment options , it only makes sense to make sure your patio door is even ready for renovation! If you need to swap out your old patio door for a better, energy-efficient model, Window World of the Blue Ridge can help. Request a quote online to learn more!