French doors are one of the most sophisticated architectural elements you can have in your home. These double doors can be a beautiful gateway between rooms of your house, or serve as a frame to an outside patio or stunning view. While the wide-open windows may invite sunlight and sweeping vistas, sometimes you need some privacy. Just like regular windows, you can cover your French doors with beautiful and functional blinds and shades.

Tips for French Door Blinds and Shades

Outside Mount

Window treatments for the door will be mounted on the outside of the window because unlike regular windows, the French door window has no depth. It is important the window treatment you decide on can be mounted on the outside.

Door Handles

Your door will most likely have a handle that might get in the way of operating the window treatment. The solution is to buy shallow blinds that fit comfortably between the door and decorative handles. Most 1” blinds, roller shades and honeycomb shades will fit behind the door handle, assuming there is a 1 inch clearance.

Hold Down Brackets

When your window treatment is lowered, it may move when the door is opened and closed. To prevent this, use hold down brackets to keep the bottom of the blind or shade in place.

Privacy is Important

It can be challenging to keep your French doors looking stylish while also controlling sunlight and privacy. Since they're both windows and doors, a window treatment for French doors that does't interfere with door handles and frames takes careful consideration. Make sure your French door window treatment can be installed with an outside mount, since you aren't mounting the blinds inside the top of a window opening.

For some French door window treatments, you can install hold-down brackets to keep your blinds from swinging when you open and close the door.

Stay Stylish

Most shades can be installed on French doors, allowing you to control privacy while still staying stylish. Roman shades are available in a wide variety of fabrics and colors, and their flat construction should fit behind the door handles. From bold stripes to traditional solids, shades come in a variety of textures and patterns to fit any décor. Cellular shades and roller shades also share this benefit, so choose the style that suits you best and upgrade your French door windows! For some French door window treatments, you can install hold down brackets to keep your blinds from swinging when you open and close the door.

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FAQ

French doors are one of the most sophisticated architectural elements you can have in your home. These double doors can be a beautiful gateway between rooms of your house, or serve as a frame to an outside patio or stunning view. 

We recommend roman shades, roller shades and cellular shades.

We recommend roller shades due custom opacity for sunlight, full roll up, easy customizability and its durability in conjunction with its ease of cleaning.

We recommend cellular shades due to their tight stacking for good view, customizability, insulation feature and its durability making it low maintenance.

We recommend roman shades due to their light filtering properties and ability to be mounted with shallow brackets.