If you're after the formal look, you could go ahead with the panels, but make them full and into tiebacks.

You could use large rope tassels to give them a formal finish,

In my kitchen we have a sliding glass door and I have a decorative black rod with panels on either side and it looks just fine. In my past home we had our slider in the family room and I had tab top curtains.

If you don't want to see the bare rod in the center of the doors, you can opt for a double rod in which you would have a valance hanging for the full width of the door and the panels hanging on the rod behind it that you can either leave hanging straight or tied back as suggested above. I don't blame you about hating vertical blinds...they are icky IMO.

I think panels on either side will look good--especially since you have plenty of room on either side of the slider, so the panels will not interfere with opening the door.

I have 2 large sliders in my great room and will be using bamboo panels with grommet tops.

thanks so much for your thoughts. I guess I didn't really mean formal. We're not formal people, and our house is probably more transitional.
Bamboo panels sound really intriguing, too -- off to look some up!
The more I thik about it, panels on the sides might just work. We have tons of space on either side of the doors. Panels on the end might make the space seem a little more filled out, too.
Thanks!

We've been having the same dilemma as you. We are redoing all the window coverings in our house (it's time) and the sliding glass doors (3 of them) have been the hardest to decide on. The dining room, which is about the same size wall as yours, is going to be full drapes. We will hang the rod - hopefully ORB with ORB round hangers - halfway between the molding and ceiling and from side to side. The drapes will be full drapes in an informal lightweight tone on tone fabric with an accent ribbon around the edge.

I have rods hung above my sliders and extending out past the edges by at least 12" on each side, so that when I hang my panels, they don't obscure the light or the view. I like the look of no valance or topper. If you look through many decorating magazines they all show this look right now. Check out the thread by jillinnj on Family Room Painted. She has this look too.

Red

Redbazel -- thanks so much for pointing me in the direction of jillinnj's photos -- it's exactly what I was picturing in my mind.

Sliders are such a pain -- so utilitarian and I really love our doors as they suit their purpose, but it's so hard to figure out how to dress them. While I would love to be able to close the drapes when needed, I think full drapes would be too much, especially on the side of the door that opens. Panels may just do the trick.

here is my bamboo panel. It's not hung yet--just a pic of it standing up where it will be hung on a metal rod once we take down the existing hardware for vertical blinds.

I got it from Brynlane Home--just $30 per 84 inch panel.

That bamboo panel is so cool! Thanks for sharing -- and you can't beat the price, either!

We had sliding glass doors at our old house and I put up a regular rod and hung up floor to ceiling Pottery Barn velvet drapes on drapery rings and I liked it. We eventually swapped the sliding glass doors out for french doors and kept the same drapes up.

I put panels to either side of my bedroom sliding door. We very seldom open the door as well; however, we did extend the rod about 15" to either side so that the panels stacked back to either side of trim so on those rare occasions when we do want to access the sliding door, the panels were not in front. The suggestion of a tie back is a good one if you do require more frequent access since I noticed if there is any wind, then the drapes will blow out the open sliding door and I have to be mindful of that when I close it. All and all, though, I much prefer the more balanced, symmetrical look of two panels; whether formal or informal.

I too just went thru this. I have a dog that goes in and out of my patio door all day. I used grommet curtains that slide easily and stack just past the door opening. I tried vertical blinds, but never really liked them. This solution seems to be working well.

Thanks so much, everyone. Seems like panels will work just fine.

For kristinekr who posted the picture of her bamboo panels - what color are those from Brylane Home??
Thanks!!!