Would it be possible to put thermal curtains over panel blinds for a sliding glass door?

We have a new home with a north-facing sliding glass door in a cold winter climate. I like the clean look and simplicity of panel blinds, but for the approaching winter, I'm concerned that we are going to need some thermal protection. The door is right by the eating area. My thought is to leave the panel blinds up all the time and to create a second rod for thermal curtains that could be removed in warmer months. Over the top of both rods, I would place a cornice to cover the rods and to help cover gaps for the colder months. Thoughts? Ideas? Product recommendations? Thanks much.

 

If the door is decent quality and you keep the blinds closed on cold days I don't think you really need the extra curtains. I would wait a year and see if in fact you have a problem.
My sliding glass door, north facing ,original with house at near 50 years old is an old Peachtree door. I put a storm sliding door on the outside of the house. That resolved any problems i had. Don't know if sliding storm doors are still made.

 

While it's possible, don't think I've ever seen it done. Problems are, you need to get brackets that extend out 2" more than the panel track in order to clear it. They'd probably have to be special ordered somewhere. The rod also needs to extend out further on the sides to clear it. You can get a decorative rod with rings or that traverse so you can slide the curtains easily.
But altho you can take the rod down, you'll still have the brackets. If you remove them, you'll have holes in the wall.
So then about the cornice. Yes, that would hide the brackets, but it's a dated look and you'd have to leave it up to hide the brackets. The cornice would have to extend out 2" more than the rod, so it will clear the rod, and also be wider. If you take the curtains down and leave up the cornice, you'll now have a cornice that extends out too far into the room and also extends out too far at the sides. It'll end up looking like a giant top hat. Not too nice a look.

 

Yes you could do it some way, but I doubt there is a quicker way to create un-wanted condensation on the interior glass surface in a cold climate.

 

Thanks for the perspective. I think we will get the panels up and then see what happens this winter.

 

Good point! We do run the humidifier on our furnace in the winter.

 

Good thinking. Thanks so much. I think we will get the panels up and then see what happens this winter.

 

One more question. Is there any reason I wouldn't want to order panel blinds wider than the window itself, so that when they are pulled back, the full window is viewed? I have plenty of space to the side.

 

We have GEO thermal heating which is a great feature but heat recovery is slow.

When we get into the really cold weather we take 5 minuets every evening to close up all the blinds and shades, it make a huge difference with heat loss, windows are poor insulators.

We have a big sliding door in the kitchen and we had an old electric blanket, I sewed in PVC pipe hangers into the corners and with the valance it takes seconds to hang and fits perfectly

So, will they help, absolutely, will you get some condensation, yes but it's minimal and goes away quickly. Does it have to be expensive, nope!

 

As for the condensation, I think it depends on the glass/door/seal. I have curtains over regular blinds on a picture window and get no condensation. It can get pretty cold sometimes where I live.
As for hanging an old electric blanket on a PVC pipe, well it would work, but if looks are important to you, as they are to me, well then it's not going to be so cheap.