Stay away from Smith and Noble. Stay far, far away. I ordered 6 shades. I paid Smith and Noble to come measure. When the shades arrived, 5 of the 6 were about 1/4 to 1/2 inch too wide for the windows. I asked to return the shades to get my money back. Turns out their "satisfaction guarantee pledge" means that they won't give you your money back, no matter what. They insist on coming back to re-measure, but a) I can't take time off from work again for this, and b) why would I want to run the risk of further screw ups and hassle? Their customer service staff come across as Soviet-style bureaucrats. Evidently, Smith and Noble could care less about disappointing their customers and engendering ill will. I guess my next steps are to file complaints with the BBB and my state's attorney general, as well as dispute the original charge with my credit card company. I'll probably send the shades back to the company's president for good measure. Keep in mind that Smith and Noble's "partner sites" (i.e. sister companies) include Ballard Designs, Grandin Road, Garnet Hill, TravelSmith, Frontgate, and others. You can rest assured that I won't be giving any of them my business in the future either.

I sewed grommet top panels together for my patio doors and it worked out just fine. I opened the right side vertical hem on one panel and the left side vertical hem on another and then sewed the two sections. I used a double stitched seam.This is a combination seam-and-edge finish that creates a narrow seam and prevents the fabric from raveling. First I stitched a plain seam. Then stitched again, 1/8" away, within the seam allowance, using a zigzag stitch. I trimmed the seam allowance close to the second row of stitching and then pressed the finished seam allowance to one side. "Easy peasy". It can be done with minimal sewing skills. The grommet spacing might be a little wider or narrower where the panels are joined but you don't see that at all when the curtains are open and its barely noticeable when the curtains are closed.

Wow - thank-you imhofan. You have pointed out something I hadn't considered at all. I just called and cancelled my custom order (my husband will be happy you have saved us quite a bit of money!!!). The drapes near the fireplace would not be a good thing and having the stack so close might look a bit weird. I guess I just really liked Jillian Harris home and was taking inspiration from therehttps://www.jillianharris.com/how-custom-drapes-complete-your-space/. She has drapes on her large windows and I thought it looked great. When I called to cancel the drape company suggested 1 panel per side so its almost like a focal point. It would flank on outer edges. Not sure your thoughts on that? We don't need privacy in the back.

go with the curtains like in your mockup. but instead of a swing arm, just do a regular rod that spans above the door and window. if you choose grommet style or hoops, you'll be able to open the curtain really fast before opening the door. (equally as fast as a swing arm, and it'll look better.) or if you're good at DIY, you could create a panel just for the door that has a pocket at the bottom -- like below. that curtain will probably wind up being closed most of the time though, and it's not exactly the most contemporary style. but cheaper than special blinds for the door! finally: check out places like blinds.com for the door shade. if you're comfortable with installing them yourself, they're not that expensive. I'd recommend a blackout roller shade. you can get a bracket to hold it in place when it's pulled down, so it won't flap. the downside is that kids or pets might mangle them.