The Looped Roman Bali shades belong to the Natural Shades line of window treatments developed by Bali and they are made of renewable woods such as reeds, bamboo, grass or jute. This is good for our forests, which are already endangered my massive cuts. It’s also goods for our interiors, because such materials give a warm touch, especially when they are stained in natural shades of brown or yellow.

Bali made these window shades in more than 40 finishes, colors going from the Bridgeton White which reminds us of hospital windows, to Nassau Cedar, Makan Terra, Talka Harmony or San Pedro Clay, all of them inspired from nature. Free samples are available for ordering for most of these colors and they can be ordered either online or at a Bali blinds and shades retailer.

The looped Roman Natural shades can come with the standard cord control, which can be placed on the right or on the left, or with continuous loop lift systems, based on a clutch that lifts the shade and keeps it in position. They also feature a safety tension device which prevents children or pets from getting choked with the cords.

Valances are available in several options: the 6″ standard valance is the simplest of all and it is discreet and elegant; the 9″ standard valance is suitable for longer shades, in order to better conceal the shade when lifted. The 9″ Deco-Trim valance can have a Dentil, Horizon or Seascape style and it attaches directly to the shade headrail. If you want, you can opt for a traditional 3 1/2″ wood valance which also attaches directly onto the headrail. Unfortunately, this valance model is not available with the continuous-loop lift system because of technical incompatibilities.

The light control level of these window shades can go from sheer to light filtering and even up to room darkening. The energy efficiency is good and can be made better when a liner is added to the shades.

The Bali wood vertical blinds series is one of the most exquisite blackout window treatments ever. Wood looks good, it gives a certain warmth to a room, and that’s why many people prefer it to cheaper PVC solutions. The wood vertical blinds from Bali are surely expensive, but if you can afford them, they are an excellent way to cover patio doors or wide windows. When closed, these blinds provide total darkness, therefore they are suitable for home theater rooms or for conference halls.

The wood vertical Bali blinds are available in 15 stain touches such as Brandy, Dark Walnut, Maple, Regal Oak, Rustic Lodge or Wheat. Additionally, you can choose from any of the 7 paint finishes possible: Antique White, Birch White, Designer White, Pure White, Snowflake, Stark White or White Cotton. Unfortunately, Bali doesn’t provide free color samples for this line of products. However, if you need to see them, you can go to a retailer. This would be the way to go if you’re really interested in buying such blinds. Of course, you can see them on Bali’s website, but the shades of color always depend on the monitor settings, and may not reflect the reality.

Bali wood vertical blinds can have the vane stack position of your choice, either left or right or both sides, case in which they would open in the middle.

The valance style can be either traditional or a more contoured model called “Eloquence Valance”.

Cut-outs in your wood blinds are also possible, in case you need to fit them around architectural elements, window cranks, heaters or any other such obstacles.

We’ve talked a while back about sliding glass door window treatments, and the example I’ve chosen by that time to illustrate my point was the Hunter Douglas Duette 3/4″ Single Cell Sheer with Vertiglide Side Stack, which feature excellent insulation without the drawback of being opaque like other insulating window coverings are.

That article seemed to be appreciated by our readers, as we’ve got a lot of questions, mostly about other products in the Hunter Douglas sliding door treatments range.  We thought a brief overview of these blinds would be an excellent way to help you make yourself a better picture of your possible choices, if budget is not your main concern.

First of all, you need to know that actually there’s no special product line in the Hunter Douglas portfolio, targeting exclusively sliding glass doors. It’s just a specialty shape, or a design option, call it what you like, which aims at helping their customers understand better what they can create in terms of interior space design and decorating. These are the Hunter Douglas shadings that are suitable for covering sliding glass doors, as described on their official website:

• Silhouette window shadings
• Duette Architella honeycomb shades
• Duette honeycomb shades
• Luminette Privacy sheers
• Luminette Modern draperies
• Vignette Modern Roman shades
• Pirouette window shadings
• Skyline Gliding window panels
• Alustra Silhouette window shadings
• Alustra Duette honeycomb shades
• Alustra Luminette Privacy sheers
• Alustra Vignette modern Roman shades
• Alustra Woven Textures
• Alustra Woods
• Alustra Modern Precious Metals
• Nantucket window shadings
• Applause honeycomb shades
• Park Lane Privacy sheers
• Designer roller shades
• Designer screen shades
• Provenance Woven wood shades
• Brilliance pleated shades
• Heritance hardwood shutters
• NewStyle hybrid shutters
• Palm Beach polysatin shutters
• Country Woods Expose blinds
• Country Woods Genuine Woods blinds
• Country Woods Select blinds
• Country Woods Reflections blinds
• Country Woods Classics blinds
• Chalet Woods wood blinds
• EverWood 2″ blinds
• EverWood X-tra blinds
• WoodMates blinds
• Reveal with MagnaView
• Macro aluminum blinds
• Lightlines aluminum blinds
• Decor aluminum blinds
• Celebrity aluminum blinds
• Cadence Soft vertical blinds
• Somner custom vertical blinds
• Crosswinds wood vertical blinds
• Vertical Solutions Select

As you can see, there are plenty of choices, from sheer, transparent coverings to wooden blinds, which are extremely elegant and which can integrate very well into a classic interior design. You can find details about each of the above mentioned sliding glass door window treatments on the Hunter Douglas website. Maybe we are going to review some of them for you in our future articles.