Help - what window covering on sliding doors?

[newroundhere]

We have just completed an extension to make a kitchen dining room with three panel sliding doors into the garden (all of the panels can slide). I don't know what sort of window covering to go for, the doors are almost 4m wide. Any recommendations or ideas? We will have the dining table towards the sliding doors.

I've got heavy lined linen curtains at mine. You lose a bit of window at each side.

I find glass cold, even double glazed well built glass.

I agree with the lined curtains. Plus we have an electric roller blind and the same fitted to our Velux

I would go for 3 custom made blinds. If you want one blind I think it would be best to have an electric blind. I got my custom blind for a 3.1m window from 247 Blinds. In case it’s helpful to know the rough cost, I paid about £200. Haven’t actually fitted it yet as the first one was incorrectly sized but their customer service is very good and a replacement is on its way.

Personally I’d avoid electric blinds like the plague. We had some made by John Lewis for a large bifold and we had to have them removed as the mechanism left an unsightly gap that the light came through. Thankfully they refunded and we replaced with a very thin curtain on a nearly flush track.

Could you get some ‘Perfect Fit’ blinds that attach on top of the glass panels.
Do you mind if I ask what brand your doors are?

They are Cortizo Cor Vision.

Thanks everyone. I was thinking that curtains would take up too much space but maybe not? Does anyone have a picture of theirs they wouldn't mind sharing?

I was also thinking about panel blinds like these, but I haven't actually seen any in real life!

We have luxaflex Duette blinds. Have a look on their website. We bought them online from Cosby blinds and fitted them ourselves.

Sorry meant Crosby blinds

A friend has panel blinds (inherited when they bought the house) and hates them. They look quite odd - like you’re in a stage show. Curtains bring a nice softness to a space with lots of hard glass imo

I always wanted my kitchen diner to actually be sitting room living space and was adamant I wanted curtains to shut out night time blackness. Not the privacy bit in case of visitors, but the cosy bit for winter comfort. Curtain pole with smallest possible finial I'm pleased with - it means the reveal floor space at the door is lost when they are closed though. Slim rings minimise the distance open curtains take up, also you can get wall to wall fittings instead of finial. I'm really glad I went with curtains and as they are quite lightweight they also don't take up much space when open. I just measured (sorry no photo) and my wall edge to door is 320mm which is a bit bigger than yours looks, but I'm not using full width for the pole so I can accommodate some height in roof pitch. I waste maybe 10mm width either side so that they are higher. Hope that helps 😀. PM me if you'd like a pic!

if your home has decent insulation and heating, cold from the windows shouldn’t be a concern but in summer (and even on a sunny day in winter) the sun shining through the windows can make it very warm if you’re sitting at the table in front of them without a curtain. I had this problem in my old house. I would get curtains. Don’t need to be expensive heavily lined ones, just something to block the sunlight on a sunny day (and provide privacy if the window is overlooked at all).

With modern windows you won't need the curtains to stop drafts, just for asthetics. We've got (multiple pairs of) cheap linen curtains from IKEA sewn together in front of our french doors in our extention. It's the cheapest way to cover the space and because the curtains are light they don't take up too much space at the sides (have the pole or curtain rail go from wall to wall).

Vertical blinds are hideous and give off dated office building vibes.

The panels are not like vertical blinds.More like Japandi minimalism. I do think they are dated and last saw them installed in 2000.
Have you looked at wave curtains? It would be modern and minimalist fabric.
My gut feeling is curtains of some type.