Modern extension- stupid design flaw - help!

[blusherblue]

We renovated our house in 2018. Good architects and builders. A key part of it was putting large sliding glass doors across the back of the house - we overlook woodland and the view of the trees is stunning.

The ceilings are high and the frame of the glass goes pretty much up to the ceiling…

The builders put in a recess in the ceiling above the glass doors for an electric blind to go in. Trouble is, because the ceilings are so high, the recess is not big enough for the roll of the blind to be concealed completely. Therefore the underside of the roll would bulge out slightly and look (I think) crap!

There was no way around this at the time of the build - you’d have to lower the entire ceiling - and the whole project was so overwhelming we just failed to come up with any solution other than ‘just leave it and don’t put a blind in’.

This is fine and beautiful on summer evenings, but in winter it means we are looking out into vast blackness, and I dislike it, even though we make the inside very cosy. Struggling at the thought of another year of this, and wondering if anyone can suggest solutions?

Would it be mad to have a blind that only drops some of the way down? Or perhaps some outdoor lighting is the answer?

It would be great to hear if anyone has any suggestions or thoughts! Thank you x

How about horizontal blinds?
I dont quite understand the counter thing but you could always cut the horizontal blinds around it if necessary.
If your window is that long, they might show slightly below the recess when up but some blinds are easy enough to take up /down.
Why cant you have shutters on the outside?

I had a large window dressed with sliding panel blinds once. Looked lovely. You can buy the kits and then make yourself using panels of fabric to your choice. Cottons or voiles depending how opaque you desire. Then when they slide back they overlap each other so no bulky ends like curtains.

Have you explored putting a film on the glass so you can see out but no one can see in? I don’t mean the cheap stuff you would fit yourself.It’s expensive but worth exploring.

Can't attach link on my phone. But like this image

Outdoor lighting at night is really not good for wildlife or humans. Darkness at night is what we're meant to have. I'd go for something like a roman blind, which is designed to be seen folded up.

I had electric blinds put in recently. I have no gap above the doors and windows at all. The extension is floor to ceiling glass. The blinds I got have a housing which they have fitted straight into the ceiling.

There are four individual blinds housed in the thingy (pelmet? Right word?)

It's fantastic.

My advice would be find a good family blinds business near you and get them to come out and advise. I'm chuffed with mine.

💯

We had this situation and installed Japanese style sliding fabric panels which store at one end of the window instead of both.

"Therefore the underside of the roll would bulge out slightly and look (I think) crap!"

Nobody will notice, or care.

Unless you live in a very bad area, the answer is no one. It's so sad that you have to live feeling that way. Everyone should feel safe in their home.

You can get smart film that makes the glass into privacy glass (and back again). Don't know how practical for moving windows and no doubt extremely expensive. www.londonwindowtints.com/film-choices/smart-film

DB has what sounds like the same window wall as you, and looks similar to the picture you posted. He has special curtains. They have a special track and they close by remote control (apologies for the repetition of ‘special’ but I can’t remember the actual name). They look fabulous and are very easy to use, and are silent in action. He’d described them to me before getting them, and I couldn’t really visualise them, but they honestly do look very cool and doa brilliant job of cutting out sunlight when needed, and keeping the room private when dark.

Could you have a thin fillet of wood nicely painted and attached to the rear of the recess that extends further down, so that it hides the roll?

Can’t you just make the recess bigger. Or is the depth of the void too shallow

This! If there’s room for a roller blind, there must be room for a curtain pole / track, surely?

We have Silent Gliss blinds in our house. We have standard size rollers in most rooms but, in our room with large glass doors, the blinds have a narrower diameter inner roller. This plus the use of sunscreen fabric means they are a much smaller diameter even when fully rolled up.

Very thin voile blinds that roll up very small.
Blinds inset into the window frame, friend has some that pull up from the bottom so you don't need to cover whole window.
Fit a 'pelmet' strip to come down from the ceiling, over the front of the recess?

This, then you could have whatever you like.
Window film also a good option, you get ones with thermal properties too.
Or perfect for blind that pull up from the bottom of the window.

We have white perfect fit blinds. Absolutely love them, you can drop them to any level you want, and each door is separate so we just drop those where sun is coming in, or all at night etc. Really unobtrusive when open. Here is a pic of ours.

Look at Hillary's Perfect Fit blinds. They fit directly into the glass panel - lots of different colours, easy to operate and keep clean.

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice. Not sure why I’m having such problems posting images 🤪 but I’ll try to explain!

Interior glass is very much like this house -

https://www.dezeen.com/2017/07/26/william-tozer-architects-renovated-victorian-house-highgate-north-london/
— not my house, but similar arrangement/height and gives an idea. There is a recess in the ceiling for the blind, but it can’t be made bigger because of the ceiling’s structure underneath it. Nor would curtains that open to the sides, or blinds that pull up work…it’s such a headache but thanks for all the thoughts and advice…

It doesn’t look like this house has a blind either 😂

Just a thought, can you get InTouch with the designer of your house and ask advice?

How wide is each door/leaf? Several posters have mentioned perfect fit, which fit on each leaf, on the door itself. Having a blind not attached to the doors would be a poor design, as you wouldn't have option to block sunlight on a hot day whilst walking in and out. I'm surprised your architect suggested it.

Freestanding screen which you can open out or close as you choose ( you might need two for your full width.. They would also cut down glare in summer.

we had a huge room in a house in France with several doors and windows. The screens were solid and covered with fabric, they kept out drafts in the winter as well.