French Door Roman Shades: Top Styling Tips to Enhance Function & Flair

French doors hold a quiet enchantment that transforms the most ordinary view into a dreamscape, whether framing a lush garden or linking one room to the next. When open, their elegant frame feels like an arms-outstretched welcome, and when closed, they still connect by offering a glimpse through their inset panes. They invite light with a certain poetry, calling for a covering that echoes the same magic. That’s where French door roman shades come in—complementing the neat geometry of the grid of panes with their crisp folds, and softening the wood and glass with the fabric’s texture. French door roman shades don’t just provide insulation and privacy, but do so with an elegance that lives up to the classical beauty of French doors. This blog will serve as a guide to choosing and styling custom roman shades that add those finishing touches to your French door scene. Let’s go straight to the top styling tips:

Mounting Tips & Placement Tricks: Position the Shades Thoughtfully

Roman shades can be mounted in three ways: in the recess of the doorway, above the door frame, or on the door frame itself. Each position comes with compelling benefits and related trade-offs. 

Mounting the roman shades on the ‘ceiling’ of the doorway presupposes that the doors swing outward. Here, the shades sit flush within the doorway’s recess, letting you show off ornate door trims, if any. However, they will stack within the doorway, even when raised, compromising the view and light inflow partially. This mounting position is beneficial in a few situations, like: when the doorway trim is exceptionally deep, or when shades will be layered with custom drapes.

HomeSewn Wisdom: Hardware for Sewn’s roman shades needs a minimum of 2 inches of flat, drillable surface to be mounted securely. If your door frame/recess is too shallow and does not offer this, inside-mounting a shade will not be viable. In these settings, outside-mounted shades become your default saviors.

Mounting the roman shades on the wall/ceiling above the doorway stretches not just the scale, but also the possibilities. However, to reap the benefits to the full, you must mount them high enough to accommodate their stack on the wall when folded up if your door swings inwards. Further, where light control and insulation are vital, extend the shades by a few inches beyond the door trim to minimize light leaks at the seams. So, you can make the most of the light, air, and the view, and enhance room-darkening where blackout goals drive design.

Mounting the roman shades on the doors is the classic way of dressing French doors, making this position ideal if you’re decorating a country home or aiming to perfect your Parisian aesthetic. Here, shades are mounted one on each door panel, screwed to the upper portion of the frame. Offering both space efficiency and laidback charm, these shades are perfect for cottage kitchens, sunroom patios, and dining nooks where the aesthetic is homey and casual. Door-mounted roman shades deliver a noiseless operation, thanks to their fabric making, unlike their industrially fabricated counterparts that clatter at every swing of the door and passing breeze.  However, it helps to stick to lightweight or sheer fabrics to avoid adding too much weight to the doors and compromising their ease of operation.

TIP IN A PIC!

Door-mounting roman shades from Sewn is ideal only for solid wood doors or other materials that are compatible with our hardware. Metal doors may not fall in this category.

Style the Reverse Side, Not Just the Front

Unlike the case with external patio doors, for French doors connecting internal rooms, roman shades have to be dressed well on both sides. Even its rear side is expected to contribute to the decor. Although  you can’t help the visibility of the cords and pulleys, other factors can be managed, such as:

FABRIC: In the case of unlined roman shades, ensure that the fabric’s reverse side looks presentable, if not the same as the front. Reconsider one-sided printed fabrics, embroidered fabrics, and velvets whose rear side may not fare well on aesthetics. Instead, look for fabrics that look presentable on both sides, whether plain or printed. 

LINING: For internal glass doors, lining can be skipped conveniently, as the shades are not expected to block harsh sunlight. Besides, lining's flat look will likely not add to the desired aesthetic of the other room. However, if you do line, pay attention to color coordination. Our privacy lining is an industry-standard white, and our blackout lining is available in white, light gray, and pale beige— neutral tones that can blend with any decor palette. But, if you wish to customize the color to fit your specific decor palette, we’ll gladly do so—just let us know in advance.

Choose the Right Fabric & Lining

French doors are naturally not the best when it comes to light control or insulation, as their intermittent glass panes are envisioned to draw light in while maintaining separation. This is where the choice of material becomes vital, especially for external French door shades. So, pay special attention to the fabric’s composition and opacity, and the type of lining.

COMPOSITION: The fabric’s weave and finish instantly reflect your decor style, so make your choice based on your aesthetic and the mood you aim to create. For French doors located in a formal living room or dining room, silk, velvet, and other lustrous fabrics are ideal to bring a sense of occasion. Lightweight cotton and linen bring a laid-back ease to casual spots like breakfast nooks, sunrooms, and kitchen patios. Dressed-down yet polished, cotton and linen-blends are the intermediate choice, perfect for modern homes and semi-formal traditional spaces. So, depending on which room your French door is placed in and what aesthetic you’re after, choose the fabric.

OPACITY: The generous scale and glazing of French doors call for shades that are capable of regulating light inflow and ensuring privacy. Depending on how you use the room and how much light you want to let in, choose a fabric of the right opacity: 

• Sheer and semi-sheer shades are apt for diffusing daylight in sunrooms, living rooms, and kitchen patios, and for internal glass doors where semi-privacy is sought.

• Non-sheer roman shades are ideal for an average level of light-blocking and round-the-clock privacy.

• Blackout shades block light substantially and are also efficient at regulating room temperature and muffling noise, making them ideal for bedroom patios and internal glass doors where flawless privacy or room-darkening is desired.

LINING: As mentioned earlier, the lining is better avoided in the case of internal French doors to maintain an aesthetically pleasing look on the rear side. However, for external French doors, roman shades can care less about their appearance on the reverse side; so the visibility of cords and pulleys is not an issue, nor is the presence of lining. Lining external door roman shades is, in fact, recommended as the shades are continuously exposed to sunlight, especially for fabrics like bright cotton and pure silk, to prevent sun damage. Therefore, choose a lining that serves the purpose of the room. Sewn offers two types of lining: privacy lining for lending body, structure and a layer of protection for the face fabric; blackout lining for room-darkening and enhanced protection from UV rays. Head to Sewn’s Lining Options to discover the benefits and key considerations for each lining.

HAUL 'EM HOME:  Silk Roman Shades | Sheer Roman Shades | Blackout Roman Shades

Tailoring the Profile & the Performance: Choose a Befitting Fold Style

The fold styles dictate the structure of the roman shade. That’s not all, though—it also brings out the best in your chosen fabric, accentuates the formal/casual tone of the room, and dictates the ease of operation. That’s why, catering to distinct decor settings, Sewn offers three versatile fold styles: the flat folds with back slats, plain folds with front slats, and European relaxed folds. For a deep-dive exploration, visit our Roman Shades Fold Style Guide, and for French door-specific tips, read on:

Flat Folds with Back Slats feature a boxy profile and a clean frontage with no sign of slats or hemlines on the front facade. This visual continuity enhances the appeal of a patterned fabric and lends a minimalist edge to a plain fabric. Back-slatted shades operate smoothly and are highly recommended for French doors where you expect to adjust the shades often to the shifting light.

Plain Folds with Front Slats, also clean-lined and boxy, show their slats on the frontage in the form of raised silhouettes and discreet hemlines. This little distinction makes this style particularly well suited for plain fabrics, as its slatlines double up as a subtle pattern of horizontal lines, saving the shade from coming across as too minimalist. Easy to operate, the front-slatted style stands up to frequent adjustment.

European Relaxed Fold Style offers gently curved folds and a scalloped bottom, thanks to its slatless construction. Their swag-like bottom end works to accentuate the mood of the room—stressing the sense of ceremony of silk and velvet shades in formal spaces, and underlining the ease of cotton and linen shades in casual rooms. However, European relaxed shades need a bit of assistance to fold and settle neatly, making them prime suitors for static decorative accents, where the functional expectations are either nominal or handled by other window treatments.

HAUL 'EM HOME: Velvet Roman Shades | Cotton Roman Shades | Linen Roman Shades 

Coverage & Functionality: Determine the Number of Shades

Matching the number of shades to the number of door panels may seem like the most logical way of dressing French doors with shades; however, that can’t be a one-size-fits-all approach. Because twin shades crowd even double-panelled French doors if the doorway is narrow, and a single over-wide roman shade feels bulky, even on a single-panel French door if the doorway is generously sized. So, what is the ideal way of dressing French doors in terms of the number of panels? Well, it depends on your doorway’s width and the way you plan to use the shades.

A single-sweep roman shade offers flawless privacy and a seamless look that visually ties the entire doorway together. It is best suited for doorways up to 8 feet wide—beyond that, shades tend to be unwieldy, which is why we cap widths at 96 inches. 

Double-panel shades, on the other hand, introduce versatility. Each panel can be raised or lowered independently, giving you more control over light and accessibility. You can leave a panel folded up for passage while keeping the other folded down for coverage—a far more convenient setup than the all-or-nothing recourse of a single wide roman shade. 

Seal your Aesthetic with Palette & Pattern

Roman shades don’t just dress the window; they add personality in ways that industrially fabricated blinds, with their plasticky slats and sheets, cannot ever measure up to. Take advantage of Sewn’s extensive catalog, which spans versatile solid neutrals, bold prints, and everything in between, to express your unique aesthetic. Choose a palette and pattern that matches the grandeur and charm of the doors, and also vouches for your decor style. 

Think classic white linen, the archetypal choice for white French doors that crave the lived-in charm of relaxed slubs. For a touch of romance, lean into misty English florals, and for a countrified note, look to vintage-inspired checks and stripes. In more modern settings, look to plain neutrals for a minimalist appeal, and graphic abstract prints, geometric patterns, or sleek, clean-edged stripes to create a focal point. Whichever path you choose, let your French door roman shades be not mere shades, but the verses that give your aesthetic its voice.

HAUL 'EM HOME: Floral Roman Shades | Plain Roman Shades | Striped Roman Shades

Shop French Door Roman Shades at Sewn

French doors will always be more than mere entryways; they are storybook features that invite light, and maintain a sense of connection with whimsical charm. French door roman shades extend that poetry, offering tailored folds, textural warmth and elegance that feels both timeless and practical. At Sewn, we bring this vision to life with our curated collection—sheers that float like a whisper, cottons and linens woven with ease, and silks and velvets that lend drama. So come along, step into our virtual aisles where every French door finds its perfect flourish. Bon Shopping!