Window Covering Ideas That Will Add Privacy To Your Sliding Doors

Glass sliding doors are an enviable feature in one's home. Aside from nurturing a visual and physical connection to the outdoors, they also invite a ton of natural light into a space. However, if you have sliding glass doors, you need to find a balance between your desired amount of openness and privacy while adjusting the stream of light that enters your home. Fortunately, there are a host of window coverings that will provide privacy including classic curtains, sliding panels, Roman shades, and vertical blinds. If you have a larger budget, custom-made smart glasses or adhesive window films are also great solutions.

As much as we love sunlight in our living spaces, there may be such a thing as having too much natural light in your home. An excessive amount of sunlight can make your home feel warmer, damage furniture, and possibly scorch plants. If you're concerned about this, you may want to choose a solution that will block out as many UV rays as possible, like a glass film. You may also want to opt for window coverings that open up horizontally like curtains, sliding panels, and vertical blinds. These are better for covering larger portions of glass and may have a more appealing look.

Curtains are a classic when it comes to covering up your glass sliding doors. While Martha Stewart refuses to put curtains on her windows, there's no denying their cost-effectiveness and availability. They also offer a ton of fun decorative styles and colors. Choose a sheer fabric for a soft filtering of light, or go opaque for maximum privacy. Can't decide? Get both with the IKEA curtain rod system that'll instantly elevate your living space.

For a neater and more minimalist look, we suggest sliding panel track blinds. The sliding vertical fabric strips stack on top of one another, open horizontally, and are easy to mount on walls or ceilings. The caveat is space: you will need a portion of side wall to keep the panels from blocking the window, unless you're comfortable with a slight overlap of fabric on glass. IKEA has a selection of sheer panels starting from $19, while Blinds2Go offers opaque panel options for less than $32.

Also consider Roman shades, whose fabric folds upwards and not sideways; just be aware that they tend to take up space at the top of your sliding door once folded. Experiment with pairing Roman shades with classic curtains to personalize your windows. Rolling blinds are also a more compact alternative to Roman shades — this easy window roller shades DIY will describe how you can make your own.

Though vertical blinds are usually associated with impersonal office spaces or rental properties, this shouldn't deter you from considering them. They have a simple look and fulfill their purpose of maintaining privacy. Choose wider slats that come in either wood or bamboo to add to more personality to the room, like faux wood blinds by SelectBlinds for under $70. 

If budget isn't a problem, you could consider a more high-tech solution like fitting your windows with smart glass, as offered by Opaque Smart Glass and Smart Glass Country. With the click of a button or a tap on an app, transparent glass turns opaque in an instant thanks to polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) technology. Be ready to pay the price for the convenience, though, as this option is bound to cost you the most out of all the window coverings available. There's also the option of self-adhesive smart films, which are peel-and-stick layers added to existing glass to render your windows frosted or transparent with an on-off switch. They can be customized to any size, shape, or pattern depending on the level of privacy you are seeking and are more convenient to install yourself.