French doors are an elegant addition to any home, and they create a more sophisticated and luxurious interior style than, say, a simple sliding glass door. The double doors with segmented windows add classic appeal to your home, but they’re mostly windows, and while they provide a lovely view of your yard, they also offer a view inside your home.
If you love the view and the natural light that comes in through French doors but you also want to control the level of privacy in your home, it’s a good idea to pair your French doors with custom window treatments that meet your needs. There are several attractive and functional options to explore.
Door Blinds
This is perhaps the most popular window treatment for French doors because it doesn’t completely hide this elegant addition to the structure of your home. Door blinds are generally affixed to an outside mount positioned just above the top window on the door. They are held in place below the bottom of the lowest window by brackets that stop the blinds from swinging back and forth every time you open and close doors.
The blinds can be opened upward for an unobstructed view, but many homeowners instead choose to simply adjust the louvers to an open position when they want to let daylight stream in, so the blinds don’t swing free. As a caveat, you may want to get shallow blinds to reduce the chance that they’ll get hung up on the door handle. You can also consider custom shades for each of your French doors, but blinds tend to be more attractive and sophisticated and provide more convenient function.
Vertical Blinds
If you want better coverage or a more impactful window treatment, you could install vertical blinds, just as you might with a sliding glass door. While some light could seep in around the edges of blinds because they are not recessed, as they would be with a typical window frame, vertical blinds will cover not only the windows on French doors, but also provide coverage around the door frame. This can help to increase privacy and light control.
Drapes
Floor-length drapes can make for a dramatic addition to your décor, and as with vertical blinds, they provide excellent coverage. The only caveat with these options is that they will completely block the light and view outside, not to mention covering a gorgeous architectural feature.
Window Decals
This modern look isn’t right for every home and it does have one major downside – you can’t “open” this window treatment, so to speak, because decals are affixed to the glass. However, it can provide you with the privacy and filtered light you seek at very minimal cost.
While sophisticated designs can look a bit like stained glass, the other major detractor to this option is that if you’re not careful, it can end up looking pretty cheap. A better choice may be installing frosted window panes, but this is not actually a window treatment, per se.
If you’re looking for the perfect, custom window treatment for your French doors, contact the creative and talented professionals at The Blinds Side today at 410-630-6940 or [email protected] for expert advice.