Buyer's Guide

Blinds for Doors

Vignette^® Modern Roman Shades Fabric: Linen Weave Color: Birch Bark

Buyer's Guide

Blinds for Doors

November 18, 2022 By Hunter Douglas

How to Choose the Best Door Shades?

Doors with windows can really open up your home with gorgeous views and natural light. But finding the right front door shades, French door or sliding-glass door shades can be tricky, especially if your windows are particularly large or an odd shape. Luckily, there are a variety of options from shades to blinds to shutters that will work well, whatever type of door you want to cover.

Luminette^® Privacy Sheers Fabric: Linéa Color: Whisper White

Front Door Shades

Long and narrow sidelight windows might seem challenging to cover. But cellular shades, roller shades, blinds and shutters, even vertical sheers, all work well for this shape. Luminette^® Privacy Sheers are a vertical application that looks great on sidelights, featuring a sheer fabric face to let light in and soft fabric vanes to keep light out.

And if you have small windows in your door, cellular shades, like Duette^® Honeycomb Shades, are offered in almost any shape and size. Plus, they have the added benefit of a cellular construction that creates an extra layer of insulation at the window. You can find Roman shades and sheer shadings in small sizes as well. Silhouette^® Window Shadings look gorgeous on small windows — they have S-shaped vanes that appear to be floating between two sheers. The sheers draw sunlight into the room, while the vanes tilt to control light.

Do you have an arch over your door? Cellular shades are available with the Hunter Douglas EasyView^® Arch that enables you to raise and lower the shade, unlike other cellular arch treatments that remain stationary. And since the cellular fabric runs horizontally, it will match other horizontally oriented shades in your room.

Palm Beach™ Polysatin™ Shutters Color: Bright White

French Door Shades

While almost any Hunter Douglas shade will fit French doors, keep in mind that French-door window treatments are typically mounted outside the window frame and may require extension brackets or spacer blocks for proper clearance. And in most cases, a cutout in your window treatment will be required to clear the door handle or knob. NewStyle^® Hybrid Shutters are available with cutouts, and they’re made with a dovetail construction for extra durability.

If you live in a hot climate or have a lot of sun coming through your French doors, faux-wood door shutters like Palm Beach™ Polysatin™ Shutters are guaranteed never to warp, crack, fade, chip, peel or discolor, regardless of extreme heat or moisture.

For a softer look, you could go with Roman shades for French doors. Vignette^® Modern Roman Shades have luxurious fabric folds and no exposed cords for a clean look at the window. And because of their flat construction, you can easily fit them behind door handles. You could also consider roller shades for doors with handles since they lie flush against the glass. Designer Roller Shades come in more than 330 fabrics, from sheer to opaque, so they’ll work with practically any décor.

Skyline Gliding Window Panels in Maya Zanzibar Grey

Skyline^® Gliding Window Fabric: Maya Color: Zanzibar Grey

Sliding-Glass Door Shades

When choosing a sliding-glass-door window treatment, that is vertically oriented, make sure that it will traverse in the same direction as your door, side to side. An obvious choice, vertical panels, are perfect for sliding-glass doors. Skyline^® Gliding Window Panels, for instance, feature a sleek, contemporary design and minimal stack back. Skyline panels come in more than 600 roller and screen-style fabrics, so they’ll coordinate easily if you have Designer Roller Shades or Designer Screen Shades in the same room.

Duette^® Honeycomb Shades also work great for sliding-glass doors — they’re available as vertical pleats with the Vertiglide™ operating system. Nice thing about Duette shades is you can pair two different fabrics on the same shade for optimal light control with Duette Duolite^®.

For a door located in a high-traffic area, you might want to consider shutters because they’re so durable. When choosing your operating system, make sure to check how much clearance you have around your doors. If you have at least a couple feet of space, you could opt for the Bi-Fold Track System, which enables the shutters to open like a fan. But if space is limited, the Bypass Track System allows for the shutters to slide past each other (but you can only open one side of your shutters completely).

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