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.

Cordless cellular blinds are the latest craze when it comes to window coverings. We’ve expected that to happen somehow, because of two reasons:

First of all, cellular blinds are appreciated because of their energy-efficiency which makes them good money savers on long term. Their honeycomb structure acts like a barrier, preventing cold air to get into the room and to form air drafts. If you were curious to touch your windows during cold winter days, you’ve probably noticed that the glass surface is cold, even if you have those modern double-glazed windows with low-E glass panes. This is why even is such cases, installing cellular blinds will still improve your R-value.

The reason for more and more people choosing cordless blinds and shades is that they have children or pets, and those cords are really a hazard. They can easily get tangled and strangle a curious cat or a baby who thinks window blinds are the best toys ever.

Combining these two considerations, we come to the conclusion that cordless cellular blinds are the way to go for secure homes with lower energy bills. Of course such window coverings come with a price tag, but thinking on the long run, it’s a good investment. Here are a few of the cheaper cordless cellular blinds models we could find:

Levolor 9/16” Designer Single Cell – for a limited time, Levolor offers the cordless option for free on these cellular blinds. At the 36” x 60” size, these shades cost $131. They are spring-motor activated, so they move by simply pushing or pulling the bottom rail. This system works fine on small and regular sized blinds, but in case you have big windows, cordless cellular blinds may not operate that smoothly on spring motors, therefore you may think of using those continuous cord loop systems.

Bali Diamond Cell 3/8” Single Cell (Solitaire) Cordless cellular shades: at 36” x 60”, these window shades cost $81 plus $36 for the cordless option. If you want to add also the top-down, bottom-up opening option to the cordless feature, you’ll have to pay $88 extra, but you’ll be able to open those shades from whatever end you wish.

What do you think? Is it worth paying extra to get cordless cellular blinds for your windows?

If you’ve always wished to buy Hunter Douglas blinds for your windows, this summer you are one step closer to see your dream come true. Hunter Douglas has a limited time offer for US buyers, offer which is going to last until August 31st 2009. You can save $20 – $100 per window. For instance, the Silhouette window shadings come with a $50 rebate per window, the Douette Architella honeycomb shades can be bought with $20 rebate per window, the Vignette modern Roman Shades can save you $30 per window, and the Luminette privacy sheers are giving you $100 rebate per window.

All above mentioned deal are great, but I believe the greatest of all is the Douette Architella honeycomb shades one. That’s because these blinds feature a honeycomb-within-a-honeycomb design which is proprietary to Hunter Douglas company and which offers a great thermal insulation and solar heat control, for a better control of the living space environment. Besides, the special finishes and the wide range of colors and shades make Hunter Douglas blids some of the most elegant ones available.

We are not Hunter Douglas dealers, therefore if you like the idea of buying discounted window blinds and shades, you’ll need to find a dealer within your area of residence. Our site is only informative, so we are not direct sellers of any brand of window coverings we are writing about here.