Shedding Some Light On Windows!

5 Best Types Of Blinds For French Patio Doors

27 July 2017

Arthur Menard

French patio doors can look beautiful and provide you with an easy way to escape outdoors; however, they can also let in a lot of light without affording you very much privacy. If you enjoy your French patio doors but crave a little more control over the amount of light that enters your home as well as your privacy, blinds are the right way to go.

Three Criteria When Purchasing Blinds For French Patio Doors

When purchasing blinds for your French patio doors, there are three different criteria that you need to make sure that your blinds fulfill:

• Outside Mount: First, the blinds need to come with the hardware to allow you to perform an outside mount on the blinds. Essentially, this hardware allows you to install the blinds right above the glass on your French doors, instead of attaching the blinds to hardware that mounts to the inside of the window frame.
• Hold Down Brackets: Second, you are going to be opening and closing your French doors. To keep your blind's secure when you use your French doors, you are going to install hold down brackets so that your blinds stay stable while you are operating your doors.
• Shallow Blinds: Finally, any blinds you purchase need to be shallow enough for you to still be able to operate the door handle with ease while the blinds are down.

Blinds That Fit All Three Criteria

Luckily, there are a wide variety of blinds that fit the three criteria listed above for French patio door blinds. Here are a few of your best blind options that come with outside mounts, hold down brackets and are shallow enough to allow you to operate the door handle while the blinds are down:

• Wood Blinds: Wood blinds can look great on French patio doors, especially if you match the wood blind color to the color of the wood on your French patio door. It can allow you to carry the color of your door frame throughout the room and create a larger impact with the color. You can purchase wood blinds that are an inch or less thick, so they fit perfectly on your door. You can also tilt the blinds in different directions for light and privacy control.
• Faux Wood Blinds: Faux wood blinds have the same benefits as wood blinds. An added benefit to faux wood blinds is that the material will not warp over time, especially if condensation tends to develop on your French doors.
• Cellular Shades: If you are looking for more colorful options than wood blinds provide, cellular shades are great options. They come in a variety of colors, pretty much any color that you can imagine, as well as patterns. They fit really close up against the door and will not cause any operating issues with the handles on your French doors. You can open or close the shades to different heights on your French doors; however, they don't have individual blades so you can't adjust how much light comes into your home.
• Aluminum Blinds: You can purchase aluminum blinds that have thin blades on them so that they will fit over your French doors. They offer a nice white contrast with your door frame. They are an affordable option and are really easy to take care of.

This is not an exhaustive list of all the type of blinds that you can use on your French patio doors. You just need to make sure that whatever blinds you use can be mounted on the outside, come with hold down brackets and provide you with the clearance you need to freely operate your French patio doors while getting the privacy and shade control you desire. 

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