Diffuse Raven Enlight blind in living room

How to dress patio doors

Written by Yvonne Keal

Product Management specialist

Written: 13/01/2016

Updated: 08/06/2023

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Top 5 ways to dress sliding patio doors

Sliding patio doors are a fantastic feature for any home, letting in lots of lovely light and providing a connection with nature and the outside world. However, it can be tricky to know how to dress them, keep your privacy, and reduce heat loss through them. In this video, we talk you through our top 5 solutions and share some inspiring interiors!

Take a look

1. Best for busy homes

If you’re in and out all the time it’s important to keep the door clear. So it's a good idea to choose something that easily pushes to over to one side, like a single curtain, or vertical blinds that stack out of the way.

Verticals are great for light control too. They gently diffuse the natural light to help maintain a comfortable temperature plus they provide privacy, which is essential if your room is overlooked. Vertical blinds and curtains can be made to fit almost any width, so are great for full-width doors in glass extensions.

2. Best for social spaces

In most homes sliding glass doors and patio doors are found in the busiest spaces, especially kitchen-diners. These areas demand a hard-working blind that’s great to look at but practical too.

Traditional Roller blinds are a great choice for these spaces. Versatile and budget-friendly, our range includes blackout and moisture-resistant fabrics, as well as sheer styles for daytime privacy. Roller blinds even have the option of motorised controls for easy operation.

3. Best for living rooms

Your living room is your space to relax. Here, you’ll need to think about the rest of your décor, as well as the practicalities of being able to easily use your sliding door. Curtains are a wonderful option, especially if your doors are prone to draughts.  They'll help lock in the heat, so you feel cosy through the cooler months of the year. In fact, when you choose a performance lining for your curtains like blackout or thermal, you'll reduce heat loss through your doors by 14%.

When the summer months come back around, throw your curtains open to enjoy the views outdoors, and close them for privacy in the evening. Layering your curtains with voiles looks lovely and it’s practical too, gently filtering the sunlight coming into your room while giving you privacy in the daytime. 

4. Best for light control

When it comes to managing light levels, especially across wide expanses of glass, Day & Night Roller blinds are hard to beat. These innovative blinds cleverly combine sheer and opaque panels in a single blind to either gently filter light, or block it out and create a cosy feel.

Of course, you can also open these blinds right away from the window just like a standard Roller blind when you want to let lots of light in.

 

5. Best for big windows

Sliding doors can be big, and if that’s the case you’ll need more than one blind so you've got the flexibility to adjust their position as the sun moves

Having multiple blinds at your doors can mean a bit more work to open and close them, but our electric blinds are a handy solution. You can control at once using a simple remote or wall switch, and our smart hub lets you control your blinds from anywhere with an app, Alexa or Google Assistant.

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