What do you need to accomplish, do you need drapes
to traverse accross for privacy? Do you want it to be
formal looking because it's a living room?
You can make a fabric cornice or do a fabric lambrekin.
I have a lambrekin and mounted on the lambrekin is
festoons and jabots. I wanted to combine 'plain and
fancy' so that's what I came up with.
I like lambrekins on wide span windows over cornices.
On smaller windows I like cornices.
Is your door 18 feet wide?

Its approx 9 feet wide...each panel approx 3 feet wide. I don't need privacy, it leads onto high fenced deck. What I was hoping to do is keep the verticals up that are already there (don't like them) but they sure come in handy in the summer on hot days for keeping sun out. If I kept the verticals up and put drapes on both sides it would look unsightly with the hardware from verticals showing and the rod I hang drapes on. I don't want it too formal but definitely classy looking in a tailored way.

I have double sliders in my living room. I had vertical blinds for over ten years with a valence at the top. Last year, we took down the vertical blinds and valence and replaced them with grommet bamboo panels. I don't close the panels--they are just for looks. Although, if closed they provide some light filtering, but no privacy at night.

kaybee can you post a pic? I'm not sure what you mean when
you say --if you keep the verticles up and put drapes on
both sides it would look unsightly with the hardware from the verticles showing and the rod?

Did you see this, look at this treatment.

Here is a link that might be useful: drape with shades.

Don't know if this will show picture or not.

I have verticals in my den and I took off the valance which came with the verticals....which left just a flat bar across the top. You could put your rod across the top of that bar....might have to get extensions for your brackets. Or someday I want to paint that bar black and get a short black rod to put drapes on each side of the windows. Just haven't done it yet.