When sweet southern Beth emailed us some pictures of her newly spruced sliding doors (she implemented one of our favorite tricks that we love to recommend for dressing up sliders) we couldn’t wait to share the eye candy. Here’s her letter:
Hey there Youngsters! Just wanted to share with you what I copied from ya’ll to dress up our sliding glass doors! Thanks so much for sharing this wonderful idea (I love how it looks in your living room and your den). When it came to our sliders, the existing hardware had been attached to our wall since the 70s, so sanding and spackling (and a new coat of light blue paint for the whole room) was necessary to make it look cleaner since the wall wasn’t being covered up by a HUGE valance anymore. All my friends come over and ask how I did it, so I’m sure this window treatment will be applied to many homes here in Atlanta very soon. Thanks again for your inspiration! And another big thank you for the Behr “Paint Project” post. With that application, I tried out the blue paint for the living room online first and then applied it to my room the next week! You guys ROCK! -Beth
Here are those sliding doors before…
…during…
…and after:
Lovely transformation Beth! Thanks so much for sending the pictures our way. Of course the wall color really lightens things up but those breezy curtains and bamboo blinds definitely contribute to the crisp and airy feel in your fabulous Atlanta living room. What do you guys think about Beth’s fabulous sliding door do-over? Oh and be sure to drop in on her blog to see what else she’s up to!
melissa @ den-designstudio says
Beth.
What a wonderful transformation. I just suggested doing the exact same thing to a friend. Now I have a wonderful example to show her.
keep up the great work!
Kate says
Wow, I LOVE this room. The paint color is gorgeous and looks great with the new window treatments. Way to go Beth!
Holly says
What a great way to transform a room! I just bought some bamboo shades last night at Target for only $15.99!!! I was so excited to find them because I had done some researching online and was thinking I was going to have to pay around $30 each. Gotta love a great deal! That plant in the corner looks great too :-)
Amy says
Wow! What a transformation! Looks amazing!
Emily says
Beth, I would love to know where you got your blinds. I need some that are about that wide for several windows in my home. Beautiful transformation! Thanks in advance
abbey says
Great transformation. I do have a question though regarding drapes. Do you have to get enough panels to cover the entire door or window or do you just get one panel to flank each sides of the window/door?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Abbey,
It really can go either way but in Beth’s case (and in our home as well) hanging just one panel high and wide on each side of a window or glass door will add billowy softness and the bamboo blinds can be lowered or raised to control light and provide privacy (which Beth recently mentioned that she does in her comment below). Hope it helps!
xo,
Sherry
Beth says
Thanks guys!
We actually got the blinds at Home Depot, because I was there grabbing a bunch of other things (not to mention I couldn’t find them at my local Walmart like John and Sherry). They are pretty long though, so they almost completely cover the door at night….which is great.
Depot has a ton of colors and sizes to choose from. Hope this helps!
Delightful Dwelling says
Beautiful! I love the paint color and those blinds are just perfect.
lauren says
at the risk of sounding like a stalker, i think i just saw john walking on main in front of the christopher’s cart… does he wear aviators?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Lauren,
Haha that was totally him! He must have been walking to or from the gym. I love those aviators.
xo,
s
Ashley says
I love this look, but I might have a hard time convincing my husband to go for it (he wants vertical blinds..yuck). What are some other sliding door options that are available?
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Ashley,
The good news is that you can have this EXACT look with vertical blinds (they can just be slid to the side and tucked behind the curtains when they’re not in use). Gotta love function hidden behind form!
xo,
Sherry
Shannon says
Wow, what a difference! Those blue walls look phenomenal, so easy breezy…
:::Lyzz::: says
LOL. I did almost an exact same post today on my windows. Love the end result of this transformation!
lauren says
nice! i love celebrity sightings! and these new sliders — looks great, beth!
tee says
Great makeover!! The room looks so much more open and with the addition of the plant in the corner, it looks tropical (I love the beach). I used to live in Atlanta and I know its a fun place to be and it’s HOT. The new room looks so comfortable and airy for hot Atlanta days :)
Laura in LA says
Oh Beth! This is great. Love the blinds and drapes, the wall color, and the change to the mirror with greenery!
Nicole says
Another vertical option is to do vertical panels. There are many different options from different vendors out there right now. JcPenny’s has quite a selection… They have vertical panels in bamboo, and also in a linen material. I just bought the Linden Street Thermal Panel System in the cream linen material. They were backordered for about four weeks, but they just arrived and they are well worth the wait. I installed them yesterday, and am 100% in love. My sliding glass doors face SW so that room really heats up in the afternoon. I would recommend ordering two more panels as this will provide complete privacy which I did after reading the reviews…. Check them out on their website… Best part, they are on sale!
Meredith says
I read that the blinds came from Home Depot, but how about the curtains? I love the grommeted curtains, but for the sake of expense, I think I’m going to go with the $10 curtains from Ikea. But I’d still like to know where yours came from!!
Robin says
I’ve been searching for bamboo blinds or roman shades for my bedroom. I have a sliding glass door that measures 76″ X 80″, and I can’t seem to find blinds in a length longer than 72″. Since they would be in a bedroom, I really need them to go all the way to the floor.
I thought of rollup patio shades, but they are too wide. In addition, the sliding door is right next to two windows, so I was trying to find something that comes in a size to fit the windows AND the sliding door. When I saw today’s post, I thought I’d comment and see if anyone has run across extra long blinds! How about it, Sherry and John, any suggestions?
YoungHouseLove says
Robin,
We have the answer. Do what we did and use two blinds next to each other over your slider. Yup, in our large living room window we actually have two bamboo blinds next to each other and no one’s the wiser (thanks to the texture it looks like one long blind- even in person no one can ever tell). That way you can visit Target, Walmart, Bed Bath & Beyond or Home Depot and snag a few different sized ones for the windows and two to hang together over the door. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Melissa says
Way to go Beth(and Jeff too!)! You have done a wonderful job on your house! Everything you have done has turned out so great!
–Melissa & Matt
Megan says
This post came in perfect time. Just last night I was at my mother-in-law’s house and I was mentioning how I’m in love with the bamboo blinds these days. She wants to get rid of her vertical blinds over her sliding doors and wondered if they would look good there. We were wondering if they came in one big panel or if you’d have to buy 2 seperate ones. So this answers ALL of our questions! Thanks!
Robin says
Sherry,
The problem I am having is not the width, but the length of the blinds. Since I would be unrolling them at night, they would be 8 or so inches too short and would not reach the floor. The width would be okay, because I could use 2 like you & John did, but I can’t find anything that would reach the floor.
Thanks for any thoughts you may have! :-)
YoungHouseLove says
Hmm, that’s a toughie. It seems that if you want something that goes all the way to the floor you could use curtain panels (lined for more privacy) on either side of the doors (perhaps extra wide or two- even three) that you can pull closed across the entire door in the evening. Is that workable? Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Jessi says
Great job Beth! Your sliding doors look amazing. I’ve been searching for a way to dress up my set, and I think this solution is just the trick. Do you draw the curtains shut when you need privacy? I have vertical blinds that block out the western sun and my neighbors and my husband is concerned that if we replace them with curtains they will be a hassle to open and close and they won’t be private enough.
Thanks!
Jessi
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Jessi,
Scroll up for those answers! Beth actually revealed that she lowers her blinds in the evening and they almost touch the floor so she gets a fair amount of privacy save for her feet. Others have also asked how they can gain privacy if they don’t want to rely on too-short blinds and we think lined curtain panels (extra wide or even two on each side) that can be drawn in the evening are the answer!
xo,
Sherry
Beth says
Meredith,
The curtains are from Ikea. They come in 118″ length, but also include iron on tape so you can make them whatever length you want! They are really thick and are great quality.
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80111985
JSKinVA says
I normally just lurk around here soaking in the wonderful tips from both Sherry/John and the fantastic comments, but I feel compelled to complement Beth on this great transformation! The before pic immediately drew my thoughts to my grandparents’ house – kinda blah and oldish looking (sorry). The simple changes however, makes this room look FANTASTIC and sophisticated. I absolutely love it and am inspired to actually USE some of the great information I’ve found on here instead of just thinking about it!
Thanks to all for the inspiration!
Laura @ so alaurable says
This situation may have been answered in one of your other curtain posts, so I apologize if you’ve answered it before.
I want to do this exact look, and probably leave my existing vertical blinds and pull them in the evening for privacy. My issue is that the sliding door is placed back from the wall (maybe a foot or so), making a small alcove.
Would I place the bamboo blinds under the curtain rod and on the wall above the door? I think this might look strange because of the gap between the blinds and the actual sliding door. However, there’s not a lot of room above the door itself because of the “ceiling” of the alcove, and then I couldn’t use the blinds to cover some of the gap of hanging the curtain rod higher.
Thoughts? Should I just skip the bamboo blinds part of it?
Love you guys!
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Laura,
I would do one of two things. Either skip the bamboo blinds or mount them to the ceiling of the alcove (wall mounted blinds can be turned to be mounted from the ceiling which is actually how we hung our bamboo blinds above the laundry nook. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
threadbndr says
Ok, you’ve convinced me to do bamboo blinds and “high and wide” curtains in my bedroom.
My issue is this – one of my BR windows faces due east. How are the bamboo blinds for light control? I really need to be able to block quite a bit of light in the summer.
I was thinking a blackout roller shade under everything else?????
YoungHouseLove says
Totally do the blackout roller!
xo,
s
Jennifer says
I have an answer for Robin. They have really long bamboo blinds (98 inches) in many different widths at Overstock.com.
Jennifer says
Sorry, I know this post is old, but I’m wondering… Would you have pulled the curtains/blinds up even higher than Beth did? Or would that look weird on a sliding door?
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve learned that pulling bamboo blinds up much higher than Beth did looks a bit cramped so we would say that Beth has captured the perfect proportions here. She could have mounted the bamboo blinds about a foot higher on the wall (along with the curtains) to cheat them higher though, so if you’re worried about interfering with your sliders that’s always an option. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Elizabeth says
Hi–LOVE your site. I’m addicted and my husband is on his way to joining me! I did convince him to install new curtains & rod, we used faux silk drapes (actually Walmart’s Canopy line is great!), and we our existing wood blinds. My problem is the usual length issue, these are 96″ and I have about 2 ” at the bottom before floor. SO, I have searched your site, and I see where you’ve added contrasting fabric (I think Sherry’s mom made them) to add length…but how do you feel about trim? I’m not much of a seamstress, so adding a 2″ wide trim sounds easy, but is it cheesy? Just can’t get a feel for it in my head. Thanks & Blessings!
YoungHouseLove says
We would add at least an 18″ band of complementary fabric on the bottom (so just overlap your curtains by 16″). Anything from tan or steel blue looks great with white panels and gold or amber or chocolate looks awesome with cream panels. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
Elizabeth says
Thanks so much! Wow-I feel so honored you wrote back! Y’all are great–we love your taste!
Hillary says
Hi, I love this look. I’m about to hang the curtain rod and have a couple questions. Do I place the rod holder farther out on the side of the curtains that has the door (so the curtains are out of the way), or equal distance out on both sides? Also, I have one window about four feet from the sliding glass doors. The window is just as wide as the doors so it looks like 2 big wide windows. I want to do the high-and-wide thing with bamboo and curtains, but above the window there is a ceiling beam. So I went as far high as I could without hitting the beam (a couple inches below it) for the curtain rod. Do I hang the curtain rod for the slider door the same height as the window’s rod or does it go higher because there’s no beam in the way? Should they be the same height? thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
Whatever works for you. We “cheat things” all the time by placing the rod holder wider on one side if it works for the situation so that’s totally ok to do! And yup, we’d hang the curtain rod for the slider at the same height as the one for the window to add some nice balance and cohesion. Good luck!
xo,
s
Tamara says
I have a slider in my ohana that is also the main entrance to the unit. I am afraid the curtain on the handle side will be in the way of constant going in and out. Could the curtain be drawn to just one side and use the two blinds butted up against eachother? Would it look funny? Also I did not understand why the blind should not be up to the ceiling like the window blinds? Thank you. Love Love Love your site.
YoungHouseLove says
Hey Tamara,
It’s all about personal preference! The blinds can be butted up against the ceiling like rod if you’d like (some people work with already-existing blinds and since they’re not long enough they leave them where they are). And you can usually hang the curtains wide enough on the side to not interfere with the door handle so just do what looks best!
xo,
s
Jennifer says
I have two sliders on the common wall of my living and dining rooms. One is a standard 8′ wide and the other is gigantic – about 14′ wide. In between the two sliders is a 6′ section of wall with an ugly wall-mounted air conditioner (basically 2′ of wall, 8′ slider, 6′ wall with A/C, 14′ slider, 2′ of wall). If I were to hang everything high and wide, it would cover most of the wall, but that little chunk in the middle with the A/C unit would still be visible. Would it look weird to actually hang curtains along the entire wall so I can cover the hideous A/C unit?
YoungHouseLove says
We’ve definitely seen people mount curtains in front of an AC unit to obscure it (and you can pull them to the side when it’s in use). Good luck!
xo,
s
Lauren says
Hi! My hubby and I have been having a major issue trying to figure what kind of blinds to hang on our sliding glass doors. The doors are in our kitchen and lead out to our patio. I feel like our options are limited. I don’t want anything that will look dirty or grimy. I am also not a fan of vertical blinds. Our kitchen is a darker cherry wood, with slate counter tops. What can we use for the doors??? Thanks!
YoungHouseLove says
You can always hang curtains on a nice high and wide rod and forgo blinds altogether! They can be drawn for privacy and pushed open to let in light. You also can use bamboo blinds or some other roman shades that can be raised and lowered. Just check out what’s out there and pick what you love. Good luck!
xo,
s