For some reason I can't see a sliding glass door with muntins. If it's styled to resemble french doors it might look good with them. Will the windows in the room have them? We have true simulated divided light windows in the front of our house (by edict of the "fashion police" BRB in our town). We have between the glass muntins in the rest of the house. Nobody has ever noticed the difference. Three of the front windows are main features of the house, tall archtops over casements. "True simulated divided lights" have permanent muntins affixed both inside and outside on double pane windows. (I don't even think they MAKE real single pane windows anymore except to restore historic homes -- single pane glass; very poor insulators.) One of the reasons I chose Pella was because their between the glass muntins have wider slats and the slats are shaped, not just flat. DH washes the exteriors of the rear and side windows a couple times a year. The window washer comes once or twice a year to do the whole house, inside and out and between the glass. $300 a visit. BTW, these are properly called "muntins", not grills -- the things you learn when you build a house! Have you considered how you will drape this door? I ask because some people have wished they'd gotten between the glass shades that don't slap around when you open the door.

I have 9 ft ceilings. My house plan called for the windows and transoms. I did not want transoms, so I eliminated the transoms and made the windows taller. So, I had to decide how to handle the french doors. Well, as someone said above-- I do have 8 ft tall skinny french doors (in the family room). And I am not crazy about them. They look just OK, I think. But, I have two little boys that are always running in and out of that door and slamming it. Even though it is a good brand, it sounds creaky. I would have been better off doing the regular height with a transom on that door. That's what I did in the dining room. And it's prettier. I was afraid to use a transom on the door when not using them on the windows. But from your pics above, I think it looks great.

Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts Jenny and Chris. We really appreciate it! I went out to the house to take a few pictures and the doors are currently framed at 6'8". The plan is to move them to 8' this week. That's probably part of the reason that we're having such a hard time picturing the final product because the disparity between the top of the door and top of the window is so great. If we move the doors to 8" we can't put a transom above the door because it will be too small (header is at 9', so you'd have a very small transom). The exterior elevation (below) has the windows and doors at 8', which is probably what we should do. But there's a part of us that thinks we might regret not putting transoms above all of the windows and doors on the backside of the house. Rear Elevation (due to code, county wouldn't let us put a garage door in the basement even though its a games room). Framing in progress (garage door replaced with double french doors in the basement. still need to cut away the sheathing as it appears we're missing a window and door on the basement level). View from rooms at the back of the house.

annz - Thx for your input. Good to hear from someone who has had both "naked" & "grilled" windows. :) I think the "framing the view" point makes sense. One can see the view from different perspectives through the many grille "frames." Also, I think if we are on the porch when it is dark, we'd feel like we were in a "dark hole" without the grilles. I'm hoping the dimension & appearance the grilles provide will allow for a cozier feeling. Fingers crossed!