Best Patio Door Blinds: Panel and Vertical Picks

Patio and sliding doors present a sizing problem that most standard blind types aren't built to solve. A typical patio door runs 1.8 to 2.4 metres wide and two metres or more in drop - wider than any single roller or roman blind is designed to cover, and far too wide for a venetian. The two blind types that handle these spans well are verticals and panel blinds, and choosing between them comes down to how much light control you need, how much of a contemporary finish you want, and how you actually use the door. This guide covers three made-to-measure ranges from UK retailers that address those needs.

What panel blinds and verticals actually are

Panel blinds are large flat fabric panels - typically 60 to 90 cm wide each - that hang from a ceiling-mounted or wall-mounted track and slide along it to open and close. They stack neatly to one or both sides of the door when open, much like curtains but with a crisper, more architectural finish. The fabric runs flat rather than folding or rolling, so there's no stack bulk at the top. Panel blinds have become a more contemporary alternative to verticals for home use, particularly in open-plan rooms where the door sits flush with a living or dining area.

Vertical blinds use narrower vanes - usually 89 mm wide - suspended from a top track. The vanes rotate to control light and stack to one side when open. The mechanism is similar to a venetian blind but oriented vertically. Verticals have been the standard choice for patio and conservatory doors for decades, and they remain practical: they're easy to operate across wide spans, the vane rotation gives fine-grained light adjustment without fully closing the blind, and they're made-to-measure as standard at most UK retailers.

The key difference in use: verticals tilt to let in diffuse light with the door still covered, which panel blinds can't do - panels are either open or closed. If precise light control through the day matters more than visual style, verticals have the practical edge. If you want a flatter, more residential look and you're comfortable with a simpler on/off operation, panels are worth considering.

What to look for

The width of your opening and your stack clearance. Panel blinds need wall space on one or both sides of the door for the panels to stack into when open. A typical installation with three or four panels needs roughly 40-60 cm of clear wall per side (or one side if you stack all panels to the same end). Measure this before ordering. Verticals stack more compactly - a full 2.4 m wide blind stacks to around 20-25 cm - so they suit tighter situations where adjacent furniture or walls limit clearance.

Light control requirements. If the door is in a bedroom or you need genuine darkness, look for a blackout fabric. A blackout-rated fabric won't transmit light through the material itself, though some edge-leak is likely around the track. If the door is in a living or dining room and you want privacy without blocking daytime light, a light-filtering fabric lets the room stay bright while obscuring direct views through the glass.

Fabric weight and vane stability. Patio doors open and close frequently, creating air movement that can disturb lightweight vanes or panels. Heavier fabrics hang more steadily and resist swinging when the door is in use. For vertical blinds, look for vanes with bottom weights and a linking chain at the base - both are standard on quality ranges and they make a noticeable difference to how the blind behaves in draughts. Panel blinds are generally less prone to this because the track holds the full width of each panel, but lighter fabrics can still flutter when the door is opened briskly.

The track overhang and fitting position. Panel and vertical blinds are almost always fitted outside the recess - that is, the track is mounted to the wall or ceiling above the door frame, extending wider than the opening so the blind covers the full span when closed. This means you need to measure not just the door itself but how much you want the blind to extend beyond the frame on each side, typically 5-10 cm to eliminate edge-light gaps. Most made-to-measure retailers will walk you through this in their measuring guides.

Colour range and how it reads at scale. A fabric swatch looks different stretched across a 2.4 m wide blind in a room than it does as a small sample. Neutrals - whites, greys, oatmeal tones - are forgiving at patio-door scale and tend to recede visually. Bolder colours make a strong statement and can work well, but it's worth ordering a physical sample if the retailer offers one, rather than committing from a screen image alone.

Cord safety if children are present. For rooms used by children, check that the blind uses a wand or cordless operation rather than a dangling control cord. UK regulations require cord-safe designs for domestic blinds, and most current ranges comply, but it's worth confirming the specific operating mechanism before ordering.

Our picks

Best blackout

Bella (Blackout) Blackout Panel

at So Easy Blinds

A sliding panel blind from So Easy Blinds in a blackout fabric for big glazed spans.

from £116.34 in 48 colours

Read review →

Best light-filtering

Splash Light Filtering Panel

at So Easy Blinds

The same panel system in a light-filtering fabric.

from £96.87 in 48 colours

Read review →

Best vertical

Trinity

at 247 Blinds

A wide-palette vertical from 247 Blinds, the traditional patio-door choice.

from £15.85 in 69 colours

Read review →

Pick details

Best blackout

Bella (Blackout) Blackout Panel

at So Easy Blinds

A sliding panel blind from So Easy Blinds in a blackout fabric for big glazed spans.

from £116.34 in 48 colours

Read review →

The Bella Blackout Panel Blind from So Easy Blinds is a made-to-measure panel blind in a blackout-rated fabric. It's our pick for situations where light control is the primary requirement - a patio door leading from a bedroom, or a large glazed wall in a media room where direct light on a screen is the problem to solve. The retailer describes the fabric as blackout, meaning it's designed to block light transmission through the material itself, though as with any track-mounted blind some edge-light around the track is possible.

The Bella range runs to 48 colour and finish options listed, covering a wide spread from neutral tones (Dove, Oyster, Vellum, Hessian) through deeper colours (Noir, Midnight, Sloe) to warmer shades (Heat, Havana, Portobello) and some more expressive options (Lipstick, Pop, Tropez). That breadth matters for panel blinds at patio-door scale because the fabric becomes a significant visual element in the room - having the right tone is more important than for a small window blind. Prices start from £116.34 made-to-measure.

Compared to the Splash light-filtering panel from the same retailer, the Bella sits at a higher starting price, which is typical for blackout-grade fabrics. If genuine darkness isn't a requirement and you want the same panel system with more daytime light, the Splash is the more economical choice. The choice between them is really about light control, not quality or construction.

Best light-filtering

Splash Light Filtering Panel

at So Easy Blinds

The same panel system in a light-filtering fabric.

from £96.87 in 48 colours

Read review →

The Splash Light Filtering Panel Blind is the same sliding panel system as the Bella, but in a light-filtering fabric rather than blackout. Where the Bella is designed to block light, the Splash lets natural light into the room while providing privacy - the fabric obscures direct views through the glass without plunging the room into darkness.

This makes it the more practical choice for a living room, kitchen-diner, or conservatory door where you want to cover the opening without losing the feeling of space and natural light that a large glazed door provides. The vantage here is that you can have privacy from neighbours or a busy garden aspect without the room feeling closed off in the middle of the day. The Splash range also covers 48 finishes, with considerable overlap with the Bella palette - many of the same names appear in both ranges (Dove, Noir, Havana, Mineral, Grey Whisper among others), so if you already know which colour works in the room, you're likely to find it here too. Prices start from £96.87.

One practical note: light-filtering fabrics vary in how much they actually filter. The term covers a wide range from near-sheer to a fairly opaque fabric that still admits some glow. The retailer describes the Splash as light-filtering, not translucent or sheer, which suggests a meaningful degree of privacy, but ordering a sample before committing to a large panel blind is sensible if the exact opacity matters to you.

Best vertical

Trinity

at 247 Blinds

A wide-palette vertical from 247 Blinds, the traditional patio-door choice.

from £15.85 in 69 colours

Read review →

The Trinity Vertical Blind from 247 Blinds is our vertical pick - a made-to-measure vertical in a wide range of fabrics described as blackout or fire-retardant blackout. Where the panel blinds above offer a flatter, more contemporary finish, the Trinity is the more traditional patio-door solution, and for many situations that's a virtue rather than a limitation.

Verticals suit patio doors particularly well because the vanes rotate independently of whether the blind is open or closed. You can tilt the vanes to admit diffuse light from a low sun, angle them to reduce glare without closing the blind, or close them fully across a wide door when you want privacy. This light-adjustability is the main practical advantage over panel blinds and it's meaningful for a door used throughout the day.

The Trinity range spans 37 finishes, divided between standard blackout fabrics and fire-retardant blackout options (labelled "Fr Blackout" in the range). The finish list runs from functional neutrals (White, Dove, Oatmeal, Oyster Grey, Soft Grey, Light Grey, Platinum, Taupe) through blues (Baby Blue, Navy, Teal, Blue Depths, Blue Haze, Kingfisher) and greens (Lime) to deeper tones (Cosmic Black, Shadow, Flint, Midnight equivalent labelled Pitch) and a handful of warmer or more decorative options. With 37 options, the Trinity covers most colour needs without being overwhelming. Prices start from £15.85, making it the most accessible starting price among the three picks, though final prices scale with the dimensions you order.

The Trinity's vane weights and linking chain - standard on this type of blind - help the vanes hang evenly and resist movement when the door is opened. For a patio door that sees daily use, this is the construction detail that separates well-specified verticals from flimsier ones.

What we didn't include

This guide focuses on panel blinds and vertical blinds because those are the two blind types designed for the wide spans of patio and sliding doors. Roller blinds, roman blinds, and venetians are made-to-measure across a wide range of widths, but they're all sized for single windows rather than full-width door openings - most retailers' maximum width for a single roller or roman is around 240 to 270 cm, and at that width the blind becomes heavy and the tube or fold mechanism becomes unwieldy. We didn't include them here because they don't suit the format.

We also didn't include electric or motorised options. Motorised panel and vertical blinds are available, and for a very wide or tall patio door they can be genuinely useful - manually drawing a 3 m blind becomes tedious over time. But motorisation adds significant cost and introduces a power-supply question that takes the buying decision into different territory. If motorisation is your priority, this guide doesn't cover it, and we'd recommend asking retailers directly about motor options for their panel and vertical ranges.

Ready-made verticals in fixed sizes are also available from DIY retailers and some of the same online blinds retailers, at considerably lower prices than made-to-measure. We didn't include them here because the measurement problem for patio doors - where an inexact fit leaves visible gaps or the blind doesn't fully clear the door - makes made-to-measure the practical choice for most installations.

Price by your window

Each of the three picks is made-to-measure, so the price you pay depends on the dimensions you enter. The starting prices quoted (£116.34 for the Bella, £96.87 for the Splash, £15.85 for the Trinity) reflect the smallest available sizes. A typical patio door - say 180 cm wide by 200 cm drop - will price higher than those starting figures. Check each pick's detail page for the interactive price calculator, where you can enter your exact width and drop to see the made-to-measure cost before committing.