What Size Drapes for Sliding Glass Doors?

While curtains and drapes are often used over windows, they are not restricted to them. Sliding glass doors, a somewhat modern feature in some houses, leading to the outdoors, can also bear drapes, as they are one of the biggest inlets of light in the living room. The bigger the sliding doors are, the more light rays you can expect to have in the living room.

However, with drapes, you can cut off the light intensity, giving you a better TV viewing experience, more privacy, and a relaxed atmosphere in the living room.

Sliding glass doors come in different sizes. They can be standard or custom-made to the size of your entrance.

Whichever type you have, you need a curtain size that corresponds with the size of the sliding glass doors. If the curtain doesn’t accurately fit the expanse of the glass door, you will have difficulty managing the amount of light you let into the house and partial privacy.

Drapes for Sliding Glass Doors
Source: Pinterest – Drapes for Sliding Glass Doors

As you peruse this article, you will realize that different sliding glass doors require different sizes of drapes to fit perfectly, and the curtains you may choose to use provide their functions to different extents. Also, you will have many ideas for sliding glass door drapery to choose from.

Why Use Drapes Over Sliding Glass Doors?

Sliding glass doors are usually the entrance and exit to a home’s garden or backyard, and it is typically bigger than the other doors in the house. There is more than one sliding door; regardless, they are usually an exit from or entrance to the living room. While they are a good opening that allows more than enough light into the living room, they also provide a sight into your beautiful garden during the night. However, there are times when the light they admit can be too much for your needs.

Why Use Drapes Over Sliding Glass Doors
Source: Pinterest – Why Use Drapes Over Sliding Glass Doors

To curtail the excessive light that comes through the sliding glass doors, you may need blinds over them. The drapes over your sliding glass doors should help you minimize light entry into the living room and add to the aesthetic of your living room as a whole. The primary purpose of the curtains over your sliding glass doors is to reduce the light intensity in the living room. However, there are other reasons you may need curtains over your sliding glass doors.

Privacy

When the light intensity that gets into your living room is adequately under control with the use of curtains over your sliding glass doors, it comes with a good amount of privacy, depending on the type of material you decide is best for your living room.

Drapes Over Sliding Glass Doors for Privacy
Source: Pinterest – Drapes Over Sliding Glass Doors for Privacy

A light curtain material will reduce the light intensity considerably while you may be able to see the garden through the glass and curtain, to an extent. However, you can choose to blackout your view completely. Regardless, you can control the light that gets into your living room and how much you choose to see or allow to be seen from or into your living room.

Comfort

Your living room is the center for receiving guests. Therefore, it should be as comfortable as possible to help them relax. One of the ways you can achieve that level of comfort is to use drapes (the right size) over your sliding glass doors. They reduce the glare that comes off the TV screen, making viewing the images better and easier entertainment. Also, it helps to reduce the temperature in the living room as the rays of light that get in are minimal.

Improved Aesthetics

One of the core purposes of using curtains for any part of your home is to make the room appear better than it usually would. For example, for your living room, your sliding glass doors will only serve as an entrance and exit to your patio or garden, without a curtain over it. However, when you add a suitable drape over the doors, you can have your patio or garden view through a fabric that announces a different kind of beauty in your living room.

Good to Read: 12 Drapery Ideas for Living Room

Ideal Curtain Size for Sliding Glass Doors

With all the purposes a drape over your sliding glass door can achieve, it will not make the desired effect if the curtains do not adequately cover the glass door. Putting it in perspective, if you have a sliding glass door that measures 60 inches in width and 80 inches in height, you need a curtain that measures at least four inches more than the width and height of the sliding glass doors. This helps you completely cover the whole door.

However, the ideal curtain size for sliding glass doors depends on the size of the door (standard or custom) and your desired style. It is, therefore, difficult to put a figure to the ideal curtain size for sliding glass doors.

Drape Styles for Sliding Glass Doors

Double Panel Translucent Curtain

This curtain for sliding glass doors is for a standard sliding glass door. However, you can also adopt it for a custom-made sliding glass door. It is made of white cotton material that is somewhat lightweight but does not easily allow light rays to pass through it. This makes it excellent for reducing light rays’ entry into your living room.

However, it requires a double panel curtain: two sheets of the same fabric and material on different curtain rod ends. This makes it easy to slide a panel to the end while the other remains intact. It also makes light management more manageable, especially with the sun’s movement as the day wears on.

Double Panel Translucent Curtain
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Good to Read: Alternatives to Curtain Rods? What Should You Use

Double Panel Blackout Curtain for Sliding Glass Doors

While a little bit of light coming through your sliding glass doors may be beautiful, you may have no desire for it, sometimes. During these times, you can install a blackout curtain over your sliding glass doors. They will be easily moved around as in the first style, and expectedly, it is full-length.

The curtain is middle-weight and easily measures about 84 inches, adequately covering the height of the doors. The width is usually about 30 inches; therefore, the two curtain panels will completely cover the width of the doors. This sliding glass door curtain style is suitable for lovers of taut drapery.

Double Panel Blackout Curtain for Sliding Glass Doors
Source: Pinterest – Double Panel Blackout Curtain for Sliding Glass Doors

Good to Read: When Does a Curtain Rod Need Center Support?

Single Pane Standard Sliding Glass Door Curtain

In some instances, you may not require two curtain panels to cover your sliding glass doors; one panel will do just fine. Such cases include if you have a curtain that is custom-made to cover your custom-made sliding glass door. In this case, you will usually need one curtain rod.

This curtain style uses a white, transparent curtain material that covers the full length of the door and hangs from about six inches above the door. The curtains can be spread out to give the living room a reduced light intensity. Also, you can bring it to either side of the middle for ease of passage and more light, respectively.

Single Pane Standard Sliding Glass Door Curtain
Source: Pinterest – Single Pane Standard Sliding Glass Door Curtain

Conclusion

Your sliding glass doors do not have to be left bare; they can contribute to the aesthetics of your living room and improve the comfort and experience of your guests. Choose one of the curtain styles above to achieve that purpose. However, note that the ideal curtain size for your sliding glass door depends on the style you want (single panel or multiple panel curtains) and the size of your door (custom or standard).

Also, you can choose to have curtains that have as many as four panels over your sliding glass doors.

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