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Internal Blinds

Panel Glide Blinds

10/10/2019 /
Fabric: Mantra Cotton L/F

A common recurring question with many of my clients is what they should do with the sliding glass door. In many cases the doorway leads directly onto the back patio and is a very high traffic area, and if they live in a new/er housing development the chances are the neighbours can see directly into their home. This is one of those situations that is perfect for Panel Glide Blinds.

Panel glides tie in with any design style and come with an almost endless array of fabric choices. The wide panels are easy to clean and using them is a breeze. Panel glides come standard with a wand to pull the blinds open or closed, which means you don’t have to touch the fabric.

When the situation allows, I generally always prefer to make the panel glide larger then the door opening. Basically what this means, is when the panels are drawn open (nothing covering the window) I aim to have all the panels stacking to not cover as much glass as possible (if that makes sense). This maximises the light coming into the home (extremely important to homes that already don’t get enough natural sunlight), plus when the blinds are closed it provides additional privacy.

Panel glides do have some limitations though that I do like to make my clients aware of.

  1. This is probably the biggest issue…. When the door or window is open, you can’t have the blinds closed. The two reasons for this are
    1. They will flap around in the wind (or even a slight breeze). This will cause damage to the blinds and the fabric. It is pretty easy to identify a blind that has been used incorrectly as there are common tell-tale indicators, and unfortunately if you panel glide has been damaged due to incorrect use, it will not be covered under our 5 year warranty.
    2. When over a door space, people will be tempted to just pull the fabric aside to walk through the door. This is another common issue that isn’t covered under warranty that is easy to spot. Generally what happens is you will get a spot on the fabric that people frequently touch to pull the fabric aside and you will get a build up of dirt and body oils, this over time will lead to a ware mark in the fabric due to frequent touching and cleaning the one spot. Over time the panel frequently touched will become lob-sided and damaged.
  2. Flowing on from the first point; if you are the kind of person that likes to have a lot of natural air-flow you will need to consider the suitability of a panel glide for your particular situation. For example; if you want to leave your window or sliding glass door open but want to block out the hot sun or stop people being able to see into your home (especially relevant for night time) then you may need to rethink the practicality of a panel glide.
  3. They don’t block out 100% light. This generally isn’t a deal breaker for the panel glide as most commonly they are used in a main living area. However if you are looking at putting one in a home theatre or bedroom, you may need to first consider how dark you need your space to be.

So now that I have gone over the cons, lets go over the pros!

  1. They will literally go with any design theme. The variety of fabrics available is huge! Plus, if you have roller blinds in your home, you can use the same fabric to have them all matching. Alternatively, you can select a patterned fabric in the same the same or complementing tones to work in with your existing colour scheme.
  2. They are really really easy to clean. Because of the wide panels, there are not tricky bits to clean around. I always recommend giving them a regular quick dust and spot clean when required.
  3. So easy to use. Grab the wand and pull them across. It really is that simple.
  4. They are child safe. Because there are no chains or chords panel glides pose no choking hazards. As a mother of two and an Aunty to two young children I see this is a huge plus.

This post by no means covers everything, but gives you a brief over view of a great product. Hopefully you are armed with enough information to decide if a panel glide blind is the solution for your situation.

If you would like to know more feel free to comment below, send me an email or give me a call. I am more then happy to answer any questions.

 

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