Patio Doors and Blinds

Over the years customers will ask about horizontal window blinds for the purpose of covering a patio door. Most often the case of a sliding patio door. While the most common trend would be a vertical blind in this application, I find that many prefer the horizontal blind. The reason behind the madness seems to be the situation in which the door is rarily if ever utilized. In such instances the home dweller is actually going for a floor to ceiling window look in order to hide the slider. Should you decide also to disguise your sliding patio glass door as a large window, I have a few thougths to ponder. Outside mounts are usually the norm , due to the lack of needed depth for inside mount (3 inches in most cases). Also, consider the height for mounting the head rail. You may have extra space above the slider for mounting in order to make the opening look larger than it is. This is not un-common when the idea is to have a faux window space in the first place. Should you ever desire using the door consider a two on one head rail that will allow the blind to be raised in portion rather than in entire width. Doing this allows easier function and longer life on the blind as well as limited open space if trying to protect privacy. Consider the pull handle for the door itself. Will it get into the path of the blind operation? Don't let the blind hang too low as to gather on the floor below. Hold down brackets will keep the blind in place if cleaning intereferes with the lower portion of the blind. Placing a furniture piece in front of the glass door can help to disguise the slider and also make the space look more like a natural large window opening. At first thought I must admit, I too thought this usage to be not so functional. In looking at what some homeowners have done here, I can say, they have pulled off a nice full bay window effect while also hiding the unutilized sliding door. The benefit here is reduced cost while creating a faux atmosphere that many guest never even notice.