Sliding Glass Door Roman Shades: Tips & Ideas to Manage Light, Privacy & Style

Sliding glass doors draw the line between spaces while still letting light and scenery flow through. However, this gift comes with natural tradeoffs: privacy that feels a little compromised, insulation that falls short, and glaze that sometimes reads cold and uninviting. That’s precisely where sliding glass door roman shades step in to bridge the practical gaps and elevate the overall look with their soft folds and warm texture. From taming the light and chill drafts to adding pizzazz with color and pattern, sliding glass door roman shades balance function and aesthetic with effortless ease—and all with the operational ease of slatted blinds! If this sounds like your idea of an interior upgrade, stay tuned. Sewn’s team of styling experts shares their top recommendations for sliding glass door roman shades in this blog. On to their styling tips:

One Shade, Two Sides: Mind the Reverse Side for Internal Glass Doors

For internal sliding glass doors, the roman shades have to do double duty. They are visible from both sides, so even their rear must be presentable. Though you’ll have to live with the cords and pulleys showing, other factors are in your ambit, such as:

FABRIC: The fabric must look sightly on the reverse side, if not the same as the front. So, velvets, embroidered fabrics, one-sided printed fabrics, and so on call for a deeper consideration. Instead, look for fabrics that look presentable on both sides, whether plain or printed. 

LINING: Despite the aesthetic and functional benefits of lining, we’d ask you to skip it for internal glass doors, as its plain look will likely not rhyme with the desired aesthetic on the other side. However, if you’re keen on lining the shades, coordinate their color with the decor. 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. However, we’ll gladly customize the color for your shades to step up for a more thoughtfully curated design if you let us know in advance.

Trimming the Light, Setting the Mood: Pick the Right Fabric & Lining

The right fabric and lining are key elements of well-considered glass door roman shades. Alongside aesthetics, two other aspects have to be considered: the composition and the opacity, all within the context of whether the doors are internal or external.

COMPOSITION: Roman shades are not mere window coverings; they are the hallmarks of your decor style. Every detail of the base fabric - the composition, weave, and finish - must ideally speak to the aesthetic and mood of the room. Silk and velvet dress up a formal area, while cotton and linen lend laid-back ease for informal rooms. So, depending on which room your sliding door is placed in and what aesthetic you’re after, choose the fabric that sets the mood.

OPACITY: Tailoring the light to your requirements and safeguarding privacy are the prime services expected of glass door roman shades, and here, the fabric’s opacity becomes key. So, choose the opacity level thoughtfully: 

• Semi-sheer and sheer roman shades are apt for diffusing daylight in living rooms and kitchen patios, and for internal glass doors where the goal is semi-privacy.

• Non-sheer shades are preferred for light-blocking and round-the-clock privacy.

• Blackout roman shades block light and noise, making them ideal for bedroom patios and internal glass doors where flawless privacy and room-darkening are desired.

LINING: Roman shades on external sliding glass doors can care less about their rear side appearance, so the visibility of cords and pulleys is not an issue, nor is the presence of lining. In fact, lining is advisable here as the shades are continuously exposed to sunlight, especially for fabrics like bright cotton and pure silk, which are prone to sun damage. Sewn offers two linings: 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.

HomeSewn Wisdom: The choice of fabric and lining must also factor in the overall weight of the shade, since treatments that span the full height of a doorway naturally tend to be weighty. Over-wide shades, in particular, may end up being quite heavy and consequently difficult to operate. So, when dressing generously sized sliding glass doors, balance the weight of the shades by choosing a lighter fabric, and/or avoiding the lining. Alternatively, you can also consider opting for multiple panels to distribute the weight, about which we will talk ahead.

Personalizing & Accessorizing: Nail your Aesthetic with Colors, Prints & Trims 

Roman shades don’t merely dress your sliding glass doors; they add personality. Through color, pattern and texture, they echo your cultivated aesthetic and set your home apart from the rest. In a world of industrially fabricated blinds that are no more interesting to see than a plain sky, fabric roman shades hold a promise as wide and sparkling as a rainbow. 

At Sewn, you get to choose from over 2000+ premium fabrics and 200+ border trims, so that the rarest aesthetic vision can be brought to life. Going far beyond minimalist plain neutrals, our fabrics embrace every aesthetic - from shabby chic pastel florals and coastal blue stripes to bohemian colorblast and Victorian gilded damasks. And the same is true for trims: tassels and braids for classic grandeur, pompoms for laidback ease, fringe trims for vintage charm, and ribbon trims - both plain and patterned - for a pared-back indulgence. There’s nothing to bridle your creative urge; manifest your imagination and forward your decor style. 

HAUL 'EM HOME: Roman Shade Trims | Damask/ Paisley Roman Shades | Striped Roman Shades

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

There’s more to a roman shade’s fold style than mere structure and operation. The right fold style 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 sliding glass door settings and decor styles, Sewn offers three versatile fold styles: flat fold with back slats, plain fold with front slats, and European relaxed fold. For a deep-dive exploration, visit our Roman Shades Fold Style Guide, and for glass door-specific tips, read on:

Flat Fold Style with Back Slats features a boxy profile and a clean frontage with no sign of slats or hemlines. 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 sliding glass doors where you expect to adjust the shades often to the shifting light.

Plain Fold Style with Front Slats also features a clean-lined boxy profile. However, slats show on the frontage in the form of raised silhouettes and discreet hemlines. This little distinction makes it more suitable for plain fabrics, as its slatlines double up as a 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 their slatless construction. Their elegantly dipping bottom is a mood-amplifier—lending silk and velvet an air of ceremony in formal living rooms or dining rooms, while accentuating cotton and linen’s ease in casual rooms. However, European relaxed shades need a bit of assistance to fold neatly, making them prime suitors for static decorative accents, where the functional expectations are either nominal or handled by other window treatments.

Coverage & Functionality: Determine the Number of Shades

Whether to go for a sweeping single roman shade or a set of multiple shades depends on both your doorway’s width and the way you plan to use them.

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. However, even shades that aren’t that wide may overstrain while operating if they are sewn of a weighty fabric or lining, or both. This is where opting for more than one panel helps in reducing the weight on individual shades.

Multiple shades are a great way to introduce versatility and to manage the overall weight of the shades. Depending on your doorway height/ width and preferences, you can choose to dress each glass panel with a shade or split the expanse into two balanced panels, keeping in mind that 96 inches is the upper limit for Sewn’s roman shades. 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 all others folded down for coverage—a far more convenient setup than the all-or-nothing recourse of a single wide roman shade. 

Mounting Tips, Placement Tricks: Position the Shades Thoughtfully

Roman shades can be mounted in two ways: in the recess of the doorway, known as the inside-mounting position, and above the doorframe, or the outside mounting position. Each position comes with compelling benefits and related trade-offs. 

For sliding glass doors, inside-mounting is beneficial in a few situations, like: when the doorway trim is exceptionally deep, or when shades will be layered with drapes, or when there isn’t sufficient space on the wall above to host the shades. A downside of this position is that the shades stack within the doorframe, blocking a small portion of the glass, even when they are raised. Furthermore, the recess would need to be deep enough to ensure that the door can be slid without the shade coming in the way. 

Outside mounting, on the other hand, keeps the shade outside the doorframe. Mount the shade a few inches above the door, allowing it to stack on the wall instead of taking up space from the opening. This helps to draw more light in and to make the most of the view when the shades are raised - perfect for kitchen patios and light-loving living rooms. Further, extend the shade sideways by a few inches, minimizing light leaks at the seams. Outside mounting with extended coverage is particularly beneficial for bedroom patios where blackout goals drive design. 

So, depending on your design goals, doorway’s depth, extent of wall surround, and light control requirements, decide which mounting position is most beneficial for your sliding glass doors. If you wish to dig deeper into the pros and cons of each mounting position before deciding, head to our blog on Inside Mount Vs Outside Mount Roman Shades.

Shop Sliding Glass Door Roman Shades at Sewn

Whether framing the threshold between indoors and outdoors or dividing a large room into smaller spaces, sliding glass doors are architectural treasures that call for dressings of equal refinement. Roman shades answer the call beautifully, lending that final flourish that elevates mere glazed doors into design statements, and rising to every practical demand— tempering light, ensuring privacy, and enhancing insulation. With their rare balance of elegance and functionality, sliding glass door shades complement both classic and modern interiors with ease. So, scroll through Sewn’s expansive collection of custom roman shades and find that piece of marvel that will best frame your glass doors and endorse your aesthetic.