Thank you Judy, I would love to see some pictures!

I know what you mean about the woven wood...we have one in our bedroom and I did not know that you could see inside the closed blind when it is night and there is a light on in the room! Whoops! :) I discovered that a few months after we moved in. We do have neighbors behind us...but the view is somewhat blocked (thanksfully) by a few shrubs, etc. I keep meaning to buy some sort of material to adhere to the back, to make it completely private.

Thanks again, looking forward to some pics later!

I would first consider how you think these doors will be using on a daily basis. Will you have the blinds open a majority of the time or do you intend to open & close them every day? If you open them daily, are you willing to open 3 blinds every morning, or would you prefer pulling back drapes?

If you want a really open view then you may want to consider drapes that you open/close manually, or you could use a traverse rod. Most woven woods and roman shades don't stack in a small area so I think you'd have to be willing to loose a portion of your top window panes if you use them.
For a tight closing shade, check out cellular shades.

BTW, it's a personal thing, but I don't see sheers working well if used as panels over woven woods.

Here is a link that might be useful: traverse rods

Thank you annz, you make some excellent points. I will absolutely be opening them every day...I see your point. I mean, 3 blinds to open is not a HUGE deal...but still, sometimes I am rushing around in the mornings and I can see where I might be annoyed by it.

I was only thinking of manually opened drapes, even when I mentioned sheers. I do like the idea of soft floaty sheers with a woven wood...I like the look of soft with hard...like stainless steel objects agains a rough hewn wood...that kind of look. BUT, I don't want my house to look "crazy" LOL. So, I want to respect the rules of interior design.

Ok, I know NOTHING of traverse rod. I looked at your link, and I am still a little unclear, so bear with me, please! :) Do you have to buy panels that are made for traverse rods? How do they hook to those little round hooks? I see there are manual traverse rods, and also the other type. I am not intrested in having a cord to tug on on one side of the panels...I like manual!

Ok, I may have to google traverse rod...to get an idea.

Thanks again!

Re: the traverse rods, drapery hooks that are pinned to the top of your panels would hook into the openings. Pinch pleated drapes have them, but if the top of your panels have a heavier construction the hooks/pins can also be used on other styles.

Having your drapes on rings that will slide easily along the curtain rod may be all you need. Check out the wands/batons in the link below. They can be attached to the leading ring and will make opening & closing your drapes much easier.....especially if they're tall like mine (8'+ )!

Here is a link that might be useful: drapery wands

ahhh, ok. We have double french doors in our bedroom, that lead out to the pool. On these, we have a simple rod with 2 panels that have "grommets." We just yank the fabric to open and close the panels. I would be happy with this "yank" system for the french door we have in the family room...the one pictured.

You could mount the woven woods above above your opening so the entire gather clears. Also you look like a candiate for a panel track. It will give you privacy when close and completly wxpose your windows when opened.

Hi bob! Your name makes me think you may know a thing or two about this topic! :)

I don't get it...where would I hang the WW blinds..not on the doors, but on the drywall? Would there be a gap between the french doors and the blind when it is down?

I do not care for those rigid panels that I think you are mentioning. They are like vertical blinds, but much larger, right? Like, I would just have 3 on this set of french doors? Not sure why, they are just not my cup of tea.

I am going back to my comment to annz, about opening the 3 WW blinds every day, and I don't think it would be *that* much of an issue, simply because one of the negatives of my home is there are NOT a lot of windows. In this area (familyroom/kicthen) there is only one large square window at the end of the room (family room)...and then the triple pane french door. No window in my kitchen, which was one of the things I REALLY wanted in my new home.

Hi dirtymartini
Reason I suggested mount outside is you will be able to keep your entire view. If you mount inside the gather will be at least 8-9 inches on a woven wood or bamboo shade. You will lose some of your view. If you mount on the doors just above the glass, you will lose more. It would be better to mount to top of the inside opening, like a ceiling mount. That will bring your gather up a little higher and expose more of your window.

Ok, thanks. Sooo...like in the underneath of the cut out (not sure what to call it) on the drywall? I would love to see pictures of this. Thank you for your insight...I get so many ideas from this board that I never even knew were possible or considered!

In the Cotes de Texas blog on draperies that floats around here, she suggests using one shade and mounting it above the window/door under the curtain rod. This could solve both problems of not missing an inch of view and having only one shade to open.

That would be a really long (custom) shade but I agree if you can mount it to the underside of the soffit(?) rather than on the doors it would give you more room though I'm not sure it would be enough to open the door. Check how much room from top of door (itself, not frame) to inside bottom of soffit. You might have to go on the wall above.

Maybe I'm the odd man out, but I think the wovens for a window are awesome, not-so-much for an operative door. Have you looked at all the beautiful drapery options? Take a look at some of the decorating magazines featuring drapes pulled to the side of French doors.

Red

This photo is on Cote de texas today from a Real Estate listing. See how pretty the draperies are and they will cover that whole expanse of window.

Red

Here is a link that might be useful: {{!gwi}}

Cheril-Ohhh, I know that blog oh too well...I discovered it from someone on this site (or propbably multiple people) and I added it to my "favorites!"

Like ajsmama said, though...I am trying to do *affordable*, plus, I cannot even say I like the idea of mounting the blind on the soffitt/drywall above the door...because if the blinds are down, you can't open the door, and I would like to have that capability.

I really was considering this just cuz I wanted to be "different" and I thought it would be somewhat reasonably priced. I wanted to have WW blinds *AND* drapes/panels just cause I like the varying textures. I may have to forego that idea after tossing it around with you folks...I just don't think it is practical.

side note: my front doors are also french doors. On these, I am definitetly doing some sort or blind, because I don't want drapes at my front door, that would look weird. I need to do something SOON...I already answered the door in my bathing suit because I was expecting a friend...and it was a solicitor! :0

The front doors are double french doors. The back patio is one french door in the middle, with a pane on either side.

red-I am probably going to go with just drapes. That was my original plan, guess I am back to it!! :)