Because glass doors need to open and close, choose treatments that stay clear of a door's working mechanisms. Sliding doors are best treated with drapery panels or vertical blinds that can be pulled to the sides. Bamboo shades, horizontal miniblinds, or sheer fabric panels shirred on tension rods installed at the top and bottom of the glass work well on French or glass-panel doors.
Because they open outward instead of upward, casement windows require forethought so treatments don't interfere with function. Many of the treatments that work for French doors work for casement windows because they're designed to move with the door as it opens or closes.
Hang valances or panels from curtain rods installed directly on the top edge of the window, so the treatment opens with the window. Hang side panels from a drapery rod that overlaps the wall and spans the window; the panels can be pulled off the window and over the walls when the window needs to be opened.
Swing-arm rods are another nifty solution; installed on the wall just outside the window frame, the arm rods and curtain panels are swung into the room when windows are opened.
Continued on page 4: Window-Treatment Glossary
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