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.

We’ve discussed the necessity of conservatory roof blinds in one of our past articles. We are going to take a deeper look today at a few creative ideas of conservatory roof shading.

First of all, you need to be aware that the conservatory roof needs special treatments, because it’s exposed to the winter chills as well as to the summer heats, much more than ordinary windows in a home. This is why conservatory roof shading solutions should be more than simple, decorative accessories, but also very good thermal insulators, resistant to UV rays and easy to handle from a distance. Their function is to offer you a comfortable space in your conservatory and to protect the carpets and the furniture, which otherwise would fade and get damaged by UV in a very short time. This functionality comes with a high price tag, so adding a conservatory to your house is not the cheapest thing you can do in this world.

Shades with reflective backings: this is maybe the most inexpensive solution for covering your conservatory roof. Basically, window shades made of common fabrics are lined with a reflective coating which won’t be visible from the inside, but which would act as a barrier for the thermal exchange and as a temperature regulator. One of the most efficient backing materials is Aluminized Mylar, which is a thing that was firs used by NASA for reflecting the solar heat. I found an interesting article on how to make your own sunlight reflective linings for window blinds. I don’t know if you can apply it for the conservatory roof shadings, but at least you could save some money on the other windows in your home.

External shade netting: this is a kind of plastic net which is wrapped around the conservatory roof, dimming the light transmission with 50%. Personally, I don’t like it very much, because I like to be able to allow full light to enter at special occasions, but there are people who think this solution is better than interior shades.

Polycool Solar Control Inserts: these are suitable for polycarbonate conservatory roofs and they reduce up to 85% of the solar heat amount and up to 87% of blinding glare, without a significant light loss. These inserts are available in two finishes: silver and gold. I know Polycool is a trademark, but I don’t know the generic term for this kind of shading. However, if you’re interested, you can search the net and see it for yourself what brands are available within your area. I think it’s called window film technology.

Do you know any other unusual conservatory roof shading solutions? I’d be happy if you shared them with all our readers in the comments. Thank you.

We’ve got a question from one of our readers who wishes to install window treatments for some very big windows and he wonders whether to buy roller blinds or to get a retractable awning instead and live the windows as they are.

Personally, I think that there’s no connection between the two methods, as they are completely different. Retractable awnings are surely beautiful and extremely functional, but if you don’t have a balcony or a terrace, they prove to be an expense with very little functionality. Why pay more if you’re not going to use them at their fullest anyway? So, in case you have a terrace, you could consider installing retractable awnings, because you’ll love to just sit there are sip your morning coffee fully protected from the sun light. Beware that awnings can be manually operated or electric, the price depending very much on your choice.

If there’s no terrace, but only the big windows, roller shades are better, because they offer an elegant look to your room. Besides, the don’t get dirty when it rains, like retractable awnings do. Go for those cool, sheer, electric roller blinds and you’ll be satisfied with the effect and with the light filtering such window treatments provide. Your shop assistant will surely help you in choosing the most appropriate fabric depending on your specific needs.