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Wondering about Covering French Doors, Try Wood Blinds

Author: Judith Persit
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Many people ask the question of how do they treat their windows. The question is always multiparted, and the answers cannot always be a simple one worded answer. One must consider the types of windows, the sizes of the windows, and even the depth of the windows. With the changes in building styles in the past few years, there has been a growth in the use of French doors in homes. These beautiful doors, which are filled with lovely panes of glass, usually with mullions inside, create incredible accents in homes, but they also open a world of complexity for privacy and light control. We will discuss the options, and then we know you will agree with us that real wood blinds are the way to go.

Sliding glass doors, the predecessor of French doors in many homes, were much easier to select window treatments. Simply put vertical blinds or draperies, and you are done. However, when you have a window that moves, the story changes. This is the case for French doors.

The perfect solution for this type of door is a horizontal blind, and as you will soon see, specifically wood blinds. Horizontal blinds are those made from various types of slats or vanes, where the slats raise with the control of a simple lift cord. This lift cord will raise the blind toward the top of the window. Among horizontal blinds, there are choices of different materials.

One can choose from either aluminum, foam (also known as faux or PVC or vinyl), or real wood. Within all of these choices, there are also the choices of the size of the slat material. With all of this choice, one should consider carefully the options.

Metal blinds are the traditional choice. These blinds, also called Venetian blinds, are attractive; they also have the benefit that when they are raised, they go almost completely out of the way of the view. On the other hand, the metal may become hot with exposure to the sun, and bending of the slats is quite easy, and impossible to repair without replacing the slats- if that is even an option.

The faux blinds have expanded on the market. These are popular as they have a look which mimics that of real wood blinds quite easily. The popularity of wood blinds has lead many to select faux wood in a few situations increasingly. There are a few drawbacks, however. For one, most French door applications will have more lift cords for faux blinds compared to wood blinds. The wood blinds usually would have 2 lift cords, and faux blinds will have 3-4- depending on the flexibility of the material. That is another drawback of the faux wood blinds in these applications. They can bend and warp quite easily. These warps can look quite unappealing, as would any discoloration from the strong rays of the sun, which also happens more often than with real wood blinds.

So, then we come to real wood blinds. Wood blinds do stack up a bit thicker than some materials, but that can be avoided by installing them a bit higher than the glass, on the door, if that is possible. Wood blinds have a style that complements the beauty of your windows and doors, and if you install properly, they will last for many years.
When you order your wood blinds, please remember that the door will swing open and closed. This leads to two issues that you must consider. First is that you do not want the woodblinds to slam into the window everytime the door closes. If that happens, you can damage either the door, the window, or the wood blinds- or all of them. This can be solved quite simply by using hold down pins. These hold down pins, sometimes a free option, will keep the bottom rails of your blinds steady with tension, and limit banging.

The other item to consider is that you do not want your cords getting stuck in the door. So, to this end, order and install the wood blind cords to hang on the side opposite of where the door opens. Many dealers offer this as a free option, to have the cords in a nonstandard location, which makes this a bit of a simple solution.

When choosing wood blinds for your doors, you will make a decision for the style and convenience. Wood blinds are lovely and easy to maintain, and you can thus be satisfied not only with the beauty of your windows and doors, but also with the excellent styling choices you made in selecting wood blinds.