Curtains would be nice. You can add a little something special with a pretty fabric, close them when needed and keep them open on a pretty rod while budding some color to the room.

tell me that's a picture postcard pretending to be patio doors or I'm gonna be terribly jealous ...

You have a lovely view, but I'm betting that (depending on your zone, of course) there will be times when it is either too hot or too cold outside, and you will want more protection from the elements than your glass doors provide.

I have sliding glass doors at both ends of my sun porch, and have countless times thanked myself for installing thermal drapes over them. The drapes easily slide aside when the weather is good and then just soften the edges a bit, but are there to provide protection, additional warmth or coolness, and privacy when desired. Although even sheers will provide some warmth, they will not keep out the heat of the sun or the chill of a cold wind nearly as well, not will they afford full privacy when that is desired.

Here is a link that might be useful: Drapes vs Curtains article.

Beautiful view...I'd hate to block it with shutters.

I'd look into what Hunter Douglas offers in terms of slider covers be it silhouettes or luminettes if you want light control and privacy but not necessarily room darkening.

Insulated drapes are probably the best for temperature control, privacy and room darkening ability, but don't give you as much light control for daytime situations.

You need to figure out what your light control needs are. And for that, you may need to live in the house for a while.

Thanks for all the feedback so far!

If we live in the house for a while, to figure out exactly what we need, is there a way to give ourselves some privacy at night? I won't really feel comfortable not having something up there in the meantime.

It is a east facing window, so it will get warm, especially in California. I like the idea of something that can be closed to control for warm summer temperatures. It sounds like we need to focus on something heavier! And I never realized drapes and curtains had specifically different meanings! Interesting!

This post was edited by tammyw on Tue, May 6, 14 at 9:14

I really like the sliding cellular blinds, and they also are the most energy efficient.