French doors can make a stylish statement in your home, allowing natural light to flow between rooms. However, managing privacy and glare through French doors presents some unique challenges compared to regular windows. Luckily, advances in window shade technology provide more options than ever before to custom fit your needs.
What are the Best Shades for French Doors?
When selecting window shades for French doors, you’ll want to consider both functionality and aesthetics. The best shades for French doors should:
- Provide adjustable light filtering and privacy options
- Be sized to specifically fit French door dimensions
- Offer design styles that complement your décor
- Have child and pet safe features if needed
- Include motorization or automation capabilities for convenience
Motorized roller shades and honeycomb shades tend to provide the best blend of customization, functionality, and style for French door coverage.
Motorized Shades for Hands-Free Convenience
Motorized roller shades have become increasingly popular and affordable in recent years. A small battery-powered motor lifts and lowers the shade fabric with the push of a button. This allows remote control of solar glare and privacy through your French doors without having to manually adjust anything.
Many motorized shades have integrations with smart home automation systems, allowing you to control them with your voice, smartphone app, or home automation schedule. For example, you may configure your motorized French door shades to lower at sunset and then rise at dawn automatically to reduce evening glare while preserving your view.
Customized Honeycomb Shades Offer Superior Insulation
Honeycomb shades, also known as cellular shades, are another great option, providing excellent insulation for energy efficiency. Hundreds of small cells trap air to help reduce heat loss through French doors in winter and block summer solar heat gain.
The customizable pleated structure of honeycomb shades allows for light filtering and privacy options not possible with many other shade types. For example, you can stack multiple sheer and opaque fabrics together in the same shade. This allows options such as sheer visibility in the top half, while the lower half remains more opaque for furniture protection below.
Honeycomb shades come in soft folding designs specifically sized for French doors and for specialty shapes like arched windows. Their soft rounded corners and child-safe pull cords help ensure safety and durability. You can also add a motor for remote control automation of multiple settings.
Fabric and Color Options to Match Any Decor
When it comes to style, today’s shades offer a wide range of colors and textures to match your home. Warm neutrals like brown and tan work well to blend with natural wood French door frames. If you’d like to make a statement, choose vibrant colors like crimson red or sea blue.
Many premium shade fabrics provide dimmable transparency along with light-blocking options. Specialty materials like faux wood blinds and woven woods infuse natural texture. For a coordinated aesthetic, choose shades lined with fabric that matches your drapes
FAQs: Finding the Best Shades for Your French Doors
The most popular shade styles for French doors are roller shades and honeycomb/cellular shades. Both provide excellent light filtering, insulation, and customization options. Add motorization for remote automation.
Some key features to look for in French door shades include adjustable privacy or transparency settings, child-safe elements like cordless and continuous cord loop systems, widened width to cover both doors, and integration with home automation systems. Also consider energy-efficient cellular honeycomb shades that tend to provide the best insulation.
Quality shades designed for French doors start around $100 – $300 per door, with higher-end custom shades reaching $2,000+ per door. Factors impacting cost can include the design style, materials, motorization, and custom sizing needed. Expert guidance can help navigate the available options.
Getting Started with Custom Shades for French Doors
If you’re ready to explore window shades for your French doors, the team at Bloomin’ Blinds of Austin can help. We provide free in-home consultations to view your unique lighting situation and measure your French door dimensions. This allows us to make professional recommendations suited to your space and style. Give us a call today to schedule an appointment with our shade design experts.
