Two blinds or one for patio door?

16 years ago

I am trying to decide on whether to have one cellular blind or two that are side by side on our sliding door in our rec rm. The door looks out to the steps that come down from our deck upstairs so the view is ugly. Actually we rarely use that door so the blind would be closed most of the time. The only reason I'm considering 2 blinds is so that when we do use the door we won't have to totally uncover the door and look underneath the steps. Because of a problem with the way the wall next to our door was constructed plus the shallow depth of our door a vertical blind does not work. I'm thinking that a single blind would look neater.

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Comments (6)

twingirlsmom
16 years ago
I am looking for something similar. I currently have vertical blinds in my family room covering a large sliding glass door. I like the function of the vertical blinds (complete privacy if needed, can adjust the light coming in, etc) but I'm not crazy about the look. I was looking online and found the copied article below on the Hunter Douglas website. I haven't used their product in the past but thought the info might be helpful. If you come up with a good idea, please share it as I am not very decorating savvy!

article follows...

What do I do with my sliding glass, patio doors if I don't care for vertical blinds? Are there other options for door blinds?

If you want horizontal door blinds or shades, I always suggest splitting the shades into the number of panels of glass that you have. If you have a sliding (access side) door and a stationary door then use a two-on-one headrail configuration. This way you can operate the access-side shade or blind independently of the stationary one. This is great for when you have a lot of traffic (say during a cookout) through the sliding door. On a hot summer day you might just opt to raise the access-side shade or blind and leave the stationary side down for protection against a hot sun. With the access side up you can go in and out very easily. If I were to recommend a particular Hunter Douglas product for this application, I would use a SilhouetteÂ® window shading, with the Signature S-VaneÂ Â the fabric-covered vanes are suspended between sheer fabric casings and they rotate, allowing you to control your light and privacy. Other popular horizontal products include aluminum blinds, wood blinds, honeycomb and pleated shades, and woven woods.

If you like the vertical look but don't want a vertical door blind then we have our LuminetteÂ® Privacy Sheers and our DuetteÂ® VertiGlideÂ honeycomb shades. These are both exceptional products and even though they have vertical lines, you will never confuse them for a vertical blind. Luminette Privacy Sheers are also available with our sleek, remote control PowerGlideÂ® system.
magothyrivergirl
16 years ago
Definitely 2 blinds on 1 headrail - make sure you specify which side you want the strings/pulls - for each blind. Silhouettes are expensive , very beautiful, but pricey - and if you are trying to hide the ugly view then look at Duettes. We have had these in 2 homes on multiple sliders. Always very happy. Pulled up, they stack to a few inches and can be hidden under a valance.
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Thanks, WoW. I did do some more browsing and came up with these options, installed prices. All have white finish and standard white hardware and Low-E glass. 80" x 72" with mini-blinds. Okna Elegante $2350.00. Sunrise $2400.00. Soft-Lite about $3400.00. Simonton Inovo about $2900.00. I was told the Okna is argon filled. I haven't talked in detail with the Sunrise dealer. I was thinking that I could not get argon with mini-blinds. Can someone confirm that? Also I was told the Okna has a lifetime warranty on the door, including the blinds and accidental glass breakage. Does that sound correct? Any opinions on the above listed options? I'm thinking the choice is between Okna and Sunrise unless someone can justify the higher prices of the other two. Thanks for your help.
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twingirlsmom
16 years ago
magothyrivergirl: would you have the option to filter light with the Duettes? Or are the only options up or down? Also, my slider is quite large, did you find any problem with sagging?

Sorry Lazycook, didn't mean to take over your post! LOL
:-)
magothyrivergirl
16 years ago
twingirlsmom - no option to filter light - they are either up or down, but they can be partially down. The duettes come in different fabrics, colors, single cell, double cell, blackout - lots of options. We never had them sag. The worse that happened on one door in the other house that was used alot, was we bent / creased a few pleats from putting up the "charlie bar" w/out raising the blinds to let the dog out in middle of the night.
There are alot of brands as well, so shop around.
lazycook
Original Author
16 years ago
ok, two blinds and one headrail sounds good. The saleslady brought out Kirsch blinds. For some reason she thought that I didn't want to go with the top of the line such as Hunter Douglas so she didn't bring any Hunter Douglas samples out. We have Hunter Douglas in our living rm and dining rm. Maybe it might be better to put in Hunter Douglas on my patio door. I wonder how much difference there is in quality between Kirsch and Hunter Douglas.
annzgw
16 years ago
I don't know about Kirsch but I've never had problems with my HD duettes. I wouldn't purchase without seeing different brands side by side so you can compare material, rails, cords, etc. What was the saleslady thinking?! She should at least give you the option!

There may be a difference in fabric, but the major difference between the upper/lower brands is in the mechanics. Like mago, mine were also 2 on a rail. I've had some that were very wide and never had problems with sagging.