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

I'm overlooked, don't have blinds, doesn't bother me at all. I know most people care though.

We have a similar set up but because of a sloping roof ours were not high enough for blinds and I didn’t want curtains. I was worried about the lack of coverage in the winter but it’s fine to be honest. Couple of options - lights in the garden (solar or powered) to make it look pretty? We also drew in chalk pen for christmas which looked great.

How about a ceiling-mounted curtain track that goes around the corner on the side that's opposite the kitchen? Adding a link in case the picture doesn't upload.
https://www.mhz.de/en/indoor/curtain-rails/

Ceiling mounted track is exactly what I meant too, looks great

https://www.luxuryscreens.co.uk/product-category/room-dividers/

Could something like a room divider/screen against the windows help? It could go in the gge during the summer.

We have a similar issue in the garden room but as nobody can see in, or get into the garden without a super human effort, I put up with it.

Why don't you go back to the original architect and builder to discuss what they can do if you had agreed on what you wanted to achieve in the first place - surely you need to ask them for their best proposal. Why exactly has this problem arisen? You were vague about what you wanted or have subsequently changed you mind about what you want? The architects didn't plan the design correctly or the builder did not build what was specified?

I don't know why you can't just take a couple of close up photos to show the exact detail of the problem as you perceive it. Why can't the recess (if that's what you have) in the ceiling be made big enough to accept the electric blind you had planned or now want - just cut into it - you seem to me to be talking yourself out of every option put to you - this is not rocket science - if the size if the recess is too small - make it bigger.

Perhaps look for switchable smart glass or smart film, which uses technologies like PDLC (Polymer Dispersed Liquid Crystal) to change from transparent to opaque with the flick of a switch—or even via smartphone or voice control.

https://privaseeglass.co.uk/
https://www.sureguard.co.uk/window-film/switchable-window-film/

Just use something like this search to get started
https://www.bing.com/search?q=glass+window+system+transparent+to+opaque+suppliers+uk

Some do retrofittable films but others require replacement of the glass which is obviously the expensive route.

Why not have curtains with the hidden track and you take them down after April? I like the coziness in the winter and the extra light in the summer. Don't add outdoor lights, it's so bad for wildlife, but then so are big glass doors with no curtains

Have you heard of a stick on window film that using electrodes can make the window opaque for privacy or at night. There’s a company called Electra tint. Unfortunately can’t do a link but maybe worth looking into.

This.
What’s the width? I have a Scandinavian dislike of curtains but occasionally for a backdrop or in the winter I put a tension rod or wire up and voiles.

Sorry for radio silence, and thanks so much for all the advice and suggestions.

@larkstar - I will go back to the original architect/builders because they design a lot of houses like this and I wonder if they've perhaps found new blind suppliers or solutions to issues like this in the projects they've had since ours. This problem was flagged as an error at the time, but unfortunately there wasn't any way to change it - other than tearing down and rebuilding the entire ceiling, glass doors, and external structure 😂

Because of the steel frame beneath the ceiling there's simply only so much space for the cavity within the ceiling itself. Equally because of the width of the glass there's only a little bit of wall on one side, and kitchen units on the other, so curtains or anything that needs to pull back wouldn't work either.

@Mirabella7 - Electratint might be interesting! Thank you. I wonder if it's enormously expensive?! I'll be honest - I don't love the look of the frosted glass (feels a bit office-y) but better than blackness I suppose!

You could put a small "pelmet" or batten across the whole width of the ceiling just in front of the recess- it may only need to be 50mm deep, say a piece of bullnose architrave. Paint to match ceiling and you will hardly notice it.. This will conceal the visible part of the blinds. Presumably due to width you will need several panels of blind anyway.

@NotMeNoNo - thank you. It's a really good suggestion but the problem is that the frame of the glass is so high that it would mess up the look even more, if you see what I mean, as the pelmet would then protrude over the top bit of the glass. With the blind, it won't do that at least, but one will still be able to see it.

It just needs to be a tiny strip to trim the edge of the recess. Your carpenter can trim down a strip of wood so it's deep enough to mask the blind and no more. (See that PP suggested this too). It can't look any more odd than the empty recess you currently have.

Since you look at the ceiling from below, the blind isn't going to be concealed from most angles even if the recess was deeper. Likewise, such a small strip won't conceal the window frame unless you are viewing it from ceiling level. I think you're overthinking it!

I suggest you get your blinds made, ask for the thinnest fabric/slimmest profile possible, and see how it looks.

what about that film that can go from transparent to white so that it can't be looked out / in through?

A bit of a curve ball, but could you have hooks or magnets or something which you could hang lightweight detachable curtains on which you could store during the day and put up at night?

In my experience, architects and builders often miss things like this. We have an interior designer and she's great at spotting and planning for issues like this.

I have a non-obscured floor to ceiling window in one of my bathrooms and use a screen sometimes to keep the sun off my plants. They look fabulous.

You didn't reply to my earlier question asking about the make of your slider - can you retrofit integrated blinds?

@Bluebellwood129 - it wouldn't work unfortunately - not the right type of glass//slider. also the doors are so tall, the blind would be even more visible than partially concealing it within the ceiling!

Ah, worth a try - thanks. I hope you manage to find a reasonable solution that works for you. Very annoying when mistakes are made and you're left to sort it out.

OP, I think you should consider the possibility of adding an exterieur roller type (French style) shutter. They can easily be fixed to any exterior surface, brick, concrete, wood, etc. Since you are probably not familiar with them you may not know how adaptable they can be. Outer shutters can even be installed with solar power and hand controlled. I think it might be the best solution.

We have the same problem. There isn’t any room either side for curtains and blinds don’t work so we have nothing. I don’t like it either. We have apex windows upstairs with ridiculously expensive electric blinds from grand design blinds ( which may be worth a look as they do blinds for difficult spaces) and there’s space at the sliding doors below them for curtains each side thankfully - but none downstairs and we have 3 massive sliding doors. I don’t think architects think about any practicalities!

How about the glass that changes colour, so you can mist it and have it clear or have it opaque, or other colours.
https://www.morleyglass.co.uk/switchable-glass/

@Linguist1979 - thank you. It IS annoying. Our architects were broadly very good, but in being so obsessed with lines and angles there were a few practicalities that they missed out on, grrrr! The extension looks so beautiful in the day with the tall glass and amazing frame, but they obviously neglected to think about the reality of dark winter evenings. (Another thing was that they wanted us to put in a giant kitchen island - it would have looked great as a piece in itself, but left so little room for people to move around it 😂 luckily we identified this ourselves before it was installed.)

I will look at grand designs blinds though, I think someone else on here suggested them too.

@Eventmrs - thanks. I will look into this also. Not sure it's possible with our type of glass (we couldn't actually replace the glass without bankrupting ourselves). I'm also not sure I really like how it looks in all honesty 😖 - it seems a bit cold and corporate...

Can you put a wooden board in to cover the bulge ?

by this I mean a wooden lip that is painted the same colour as the wall but hangs in front of the recess, hiding the bulge, but pending in with the walls so it wouldn’t really be visible.

i know you are discounting curtains becauce of tou pulled them open they would block the kitchen, but you could have them set up so they are all pulled back one side. I wouldn’t underestimate how cosy having a curtain could be - we have a similar wall of high windows to the back and have a curtain which is lovely in framing the space and when pulled at night.

I have a similar problem - floor to ceiling sliding doors the whole length of the room (about 15 minutes). No wall space on either side.

Window frame goes right up to the window so no space above them.

PLUS - they are curved!!!!

I don’t mind the dark in the winter but it would be nice to block out the low sun when it shines in in the late afternoon / evening.