The drapes should just reach the floor.
The wide expanse of glass on a sliding door lets in light, heat, cold, sound and potentially the prying eyes of neighbors. Installing drapes over the door improves the room's insulation against all these things. To block light most efficiently and still leave full use of the door, plan to attach the curtain rod to the wall, not the inside of the door frame. This mounting system allows the drapes to clear the glass completely when open and to block the glass completely when closed.
Measure the height from the floor to the top of the door frame on the right side and the left side. If the measurements differ, keep both lengths to order custom drapes, or the longer length to order a finished product. With a finished drapes, you might have to hem the bottom of the drapes to make them hang evenly.
Add at least 3 inches to the measurement to account for the mounting hardware. If you have already chosen a manufacturer, they might specify the amount to add on their website. If not, choose from 3 to 6 inches according to how high above the door you want the drapes to extend.
Measure the horizontal width from the outside edge of the door trim on the left side to the outside edge of the trim on the right side. Add 8 inches to the width to give the drapes 4 inches to bunch on each side of the door when open. Because of this extra width allowance, any small differences between the measurements at the bottom, middle and top of the doors are unimportant.
Tip
- To ensure your measurements are accurate, use a stiff measuring tape, not a flexible cloth tape.
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