What do I do with my sliding glass, patio doors if I don't care for vertical blinds? Are there other options for door blinds?

If you want horizontal door blinds or shades, I always suggest splitting the shades into the number of panels of glass that you have. If you have a sliding (access side) door and a stationary door then use a two-on-one headrail configuration. This way you can operate the access-side shade or blind independently of the stationary one. This is great for when you have a lot of traffic (say during a cookout) through the sliding door. On a hot summer day you might just opt to raise the access-side shade or blind and leave the stationary side down for protection against a hot sun. With the access side up you can go in and out very easily. If I were to recommend a particular Hunter Douglas product for this application, I would use a Silhouette® window shading, with the Signature S-Vane™ — the fabric-covered vanes are suspended between sheer fabric casings and they rotate, allowing you to control your light and privacy. Other popular horizontal products include aluminum blinds, wood blinds, honeycomb and pleated shades, and woven woods.

If you like the vertical look but don't want a vertical door blind then we have our Luminette® Privacy Sheers and our Duette® VertiGlide™ honeycomb shades. These are both exceptional products and even though they have vertical lines, you will never confuse them for a vertical blind. Luminette Privacy Sheers are also available with our sleek, remote control PowerGlide® system.

What should I use for my French doors? My door handles seem to get in the way of door blinds.

You need a product that has a low-profile headrail and something that can be attached on the bottom of the window portion of the door with hold-down brackets. You also need a product that allows the vanes or shade material to stay close to the door itself. I recommend that you use something like a Duette honeycomb shade, which has a headrail that isn't very deep and won't interfere with opening and closing the door. Or you could try an aluminum horizontal blind with the same type of headrail. I also recommend our Designer Roller Shades because these lie flat against the door and pass by the handle very easily. They can be attached at the bottom of the window area with hold-down brackets.

French doors can also be treated with a product that mounts above the doorframe. We have used Silhouette window shadings many times on French doors because you can mount them above the doorframe and put a cornice or valance over the headrail. The Silhouette window shading actually retracts all the way into its own headrail. This way you can raise and lower it whenever you want total privacy or a completely uncovered door and window.

What do I use for my bathroom window? I want privacy but not mildew or water stains.

I always recommend our Palm Beach™ Custom Shutters for this application. Palm Beach shutters are made of a material that will never warp, crack, chip or fade even in the most extreme humidity or conditions. They look wonderful and are actually perfect for any room in your home. The movable louvers let you choose the amount of privacy and light control you need or desire.

I have bedroom windows that are allowing a tremendous amount of light in the morning. My husband has to sleep during the day because he works at night. What do I do?

What you need is a room-darkening product. And we have a variety of shades and blinds to choose from. My favorite of all our room-darkening shades is our Duette honeycomb shade in our Eclipse™ fabrics. This will give you total room darkening and your husband won't be disturbed by any light coming into the room.

We also have other products that give you the same room-darkening effect: our Vignette® Modern Roman Shades in our EveScape™ fabric; our Alternative Wood Blinds and Country Woods® Wood Blinds that have our de-Light™ routless feature (there are no holes in the blinds so you don't have any light leakage). We also have several other products that have the room-darkening feature, so you have many products to choose from.

I want to preserve the beautiful view out my windows, but I also want to maintain my privacy and block some of the incoming sun and heat in the evenings. I'm also concerned about the sun damaging my furniture, carpets and accessories. What would you suggest?

We have some wonderful products for you to choose from that will allow you to maintain your view when you want it but will also preserve your privacy—and, in addition, these products will also block a hot sun from heating up your room and damaging your furniture and accessories. My favorite product for this is our Silhouette window shadings. It is so versatile! It has fabric-covered vanes that are suspended between sheer fabric facings. The vanes rotate for privacy but for you, they allow you to control that light when you have the hot sun. The vanes in the open position will always give you a soft-filtered view but in the closed position you will be able to close out that sun. When the sun doesn't interfere you can raise the Silhouettes totally off your windows. They retract into their own headrail, giving you a completely unencumbered view.

I have a half circle above my doorway. I don't know what to do with it but I know I need to cover it. The sun comes in and the light is sometimes very intense as our front door faces the west.

Your half circle is actually an arch. We have some lovely treatments for that with your choice of fixed or operable arch coverings. My favorite of all is our Duette EasyView® arch. This is in our Duette Honeycomb Shades collection and stacks at the bottom of your arch. You can raise and lower it to cover the opening or to have a completely unobstructed window when you choose. The EasyView arch is controlled with an extension pole for easy operation.

You can find more information about our specialty shaped products by visiting our Specialty Shapes and Applications page inside the Getting Started section.

We have very high windows. I would like to cover them because they allow a lot of sunlight in the morning, which heats up the house. I would like something that I can control with motorization.

I would recommend our PowerRise® with Platinum™ Technology battery-powered patented system. The PowerRise with Platinum Technology lifting system allows you to raise or lower window coverings individually or in groups from a sleek handheld remote control. We have this system in our Silhouette window shadings and Duette honeycomb shades collections, as well as in our Vignette® Modern Roman Shades and ourBrilliance® Pleated Shades collection. All of these products are lovely. You can't go wrong with PowerRise!

Another motorization system we have is hard-wired systems with Platinum Technology, offering simple wiring solutions for guaranteed operation and precise control via a contemporary-styled wall-switch or remote control. This is a wonderful alternative.

You can find more information about our lifting systems by visiting our Easy Operation page inside the Getting Started section.

I want to put up a shade in my daughter's room that blocks the sun. I'm concerned about safety, too, because I've heard of the terrible stories of children being hurt or worse by getting tangled in blinds and cords. What should I use?

We're very concerned with child safety at Hunter Douglas. All Hunter Douglas products provide standard or optional safety features, and some offer more than others. For example, our cordless LiteRise® system has no operating cords, it just pushes up and pulls down from the bottom. The shade or blind raises or lowers evenly to the desired position, and then holds that position, locking in automatically.

We've also developed a cord tensioner, a specially designed cord weight with spring tension and brackets, which improves the safety of cord-looped products. And our Break-Thru® safety tassel is designed to break open under pressure should a child or pet become entangled in the cord loop. This is a standard feature on all Hunter Douglas horizontal blinds.

You can find more information about our safety features by visiting our Safety page inside the Getting Started section.

How do I clean my Hunter Douglas shades?

We have several different ways to clean all of our blinds and shades. Most can be dusted, vacuumed, spot cleaned and many times professionally cleaned. If you go to the Our Products section and navigate to the product you purchased, you'll find printable cleaning information. If you'd like professional cleaners, we recommend a company called On-Site Cleaners (1-800-598-9043).

How do I find a Hunter Douglas dealer in my area?

For an authorized Hunter Douglas dealer near you, visit Where to Buy.

I'm looking to cover a tall, rectangular glass window (about four feet in width and the glass is continuous) with a half-circle at the top. What are your recommendations?

This type of window is really lovely to look at, but it is the type of specialty window that is quite limiting when you go to treat it. Fortunately, this window can be treated with one of our custom vertical blinds. We make a curved track for arches and angles and our blinds are as wide as 216 inches with a maximum height of 192 inches. This covers your window and can be motorized, if you wish.

I have heard some window treatments allow you to simultaneously raise both the lower and upper portions of a shade. Do you make such a product?

Hunter Douglas has several shades with this special option—we call it our top-down/bottom-up option. You can find it on Alustra® Duette® honeycomb shades, Alustra® Woven Textures™, Silhouette® window shadings, Applause® and Duette® honeycomb shades, Brilliance® pleated shades, and Provenance® woven wood shades. There is also a slight variation in this option if you just want a top-down shade instead of the top-down/bottom-up. This is wonderful for when you want to let light in at the top of your windows and have the lower part of the shade covering the lower portion for privacy.

I'm looking for a unique window treatment for my bay windows in the front of my house, and I don't want a vertical blind and I don't like mini blinds. Can I use something else that has vanes and isn't just a honeycomb-type shade that obscures my view?

Our Heritance® hardwood shutters, offered in a wide range of frame types and options to fit just about any décor, will provide a distinctively elegant and attractive window covering solution for your bay windows.

I have narrow, 12-inch wide windows on either side of my front door and would like a window covering that maintains my view but also provides privacy (especially at night). What would you recommend?

The first product that comes to mind is Silhouette® window shadings, which feature fabric vanes suspended between sheer fabric casings. You can tilt the vanes to let in-or block out-natural light. Tilting the vanes also determines your level of privacy and access to outside views. Silhouette window shadings are available in sizes as narrow as 6 inches in width, a perfect solution for your space.

Other Hunter Douglas window coverings that will accommodate your narrow space: Duette® honeycomb shades, horizontal wood blinds (featuring our Country Woods® collection) and our horizontal aluminum blinds. However, only Silhouette window shadings allow you to enjoy your view while providing you with privacy, as you don't have to completely raise the shade to see outside.

I really don't know what to use on my skylights. Do you have anything that can be operated with a remote control (my windows are very high)?

Our Skyrise® skylight systems are manual or motorized lifting systems specifically manufactured for rectangular windows and especially suited for skylights.Coupling this system with our Duette® honeycomb shades would be a great way to treat a skylight. Most people find that skylights are wonderful for natural lighting but rooms can sometimes overheat from too much direct sunlight. Selecting Duette with Skyrise allows you to dramatically reduce this heat while getting the natural light you want.

I'd like to add a top treatment to my Luminette® Privacy Sheers—a cornice or something. Do you have any suggestions?

For our Luminette Collection, we offer matching fabrics through a program called Accents By The Yard. With these cut fabrics, you can create a wide variety of accents such as a sheered on the rod, valance or side panels, as well as swags and jabots. Your Hunter Douglas dealer will help you with ordering Accents By The Yard.

Personally, I like to finish window treatments with top treatments, side panels and jabots, where fitting. It's always nice to use coordinating or matching fabrics to do this. By the way, your Hunter Douglas dealer will either have a seamstress that will be able to create these for you, or they can recommend one in your area. Visit our Where to Buy page to find a dealer near you.

I'd like to find a window fashion that doesn't block our lakefront view but still filters the light. What would you recommend?

Our new Quartette™ four-inch vane sizes on Silhouette® window shadings will span windows up to 10 feet wide by 10 feet high. The larger vanes provide just what you're looking for: an optimal view—83 percent greater view-through than our three-inch vane size, and 120 percent greater view-through than our two-inch vane size.

I have two toddlers and want to know what lifting systems are available for Duette® honeycomb shades that keep the cords out of my girls' reach.

Duette honeycomb shades can be outfitted with any number of lifting systems that keep cords out of your toddlers' reach. Most recently, we've added the award-winning TruRise™ single cord lifting system to our optional offerings for Duette. As the shade is raised, the cord length never travels beyond 42 inches; there's no cord pooling, so you don't have to worry about your kids safety around the window. Other optional child safety lifting systems available for Duette: UltraGlide®, a single retractable cord that remains at the same length whether the shade is raised or lowered, and LiteRise®, a touch system that allows you to raise and lower blinds with a single touch.

I'd like to automate the control of my window coverings in my Great Room. How do I know which Hunter Douglas motorized system is right for my room?

When deciding to motorize window coverings, the most important decision is whether or not you're able to run individual wires to each window opening. If not, the only choice is battery operation, such as our PowerRise® with Platinum™ Technology, PowerGlide® with Platinum Technology or PowerTilt® with Platinum Technology system. If yes, you can choose a hard-wired switch system that operates from a wall panel or a hard-wired remote control that allows operation by wall switch or remote control. For more information on our motorized lifting system, visit our Easy Operation page.

What's the difference between "custom" shutters and "customized" shutters?

Custom shutters are built to the exact specifications of your windows. Customized shutters are available off the shelf and are cut down to fit your windows. Custom shutters, like those from Hunter Douglas, are the highest quality, most durable and offer the best fit for your windows.