I'm not sure how roller blinds will look outside mounted in this setup - do you have any photos? There is at least 3" clearance behind the curtain hardware.

This will give you an idea of what an outside mount roller shade would look like. I have these on some west facing patio doors. After I took the photo, I saw the spiderwebs but was too lazy to clean and reshoot. These extend out less than 3 inches.

Thanks graywings123 - I think I was hoping for something a bit more decorative as well as functional... for example that would act as a "reverse valance" under the sheers to help disguise the window height discrepancy. If I went with roller blinds I'd probably just inside mount them and try to make them blend in.

I had something like this look in mind like these photos below...more like the second and third I think in order to disguise the window height difference. I'm just not sure if I can pull it off here or that this type of blind will be practical in such a large sliding glass door/window. I could use 2 separate ones so that the door is more easily accessed. I know these blinds come as either roller or folding/roman. I could also dispense with the sheers and rod and just put blinds, but I'm nor sure if I can get a single blind wide enough for the patio door and if I use 2 separate, how that would look.

If you get lined woven wood blinds and outside mount them up near the ceiling, it will accomplish what you want. If you're worried they may get too heavy when pulled up, you may not have to have them long enough to reach the floor. The majority of the light comes in through the top part of the window and the view from the 2nd story won't see anything but some floor when they're down. And it fills in the blank space between the ceiling and the window top.

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Staying with the roller shade idea for less weight and less bulk, you can do a reverse roll on them, I think it is called a waterfall. And you can dress up the headrail. Look at the 3rd photo down on this Comfortex site:

Comfortex

I'm a big fan of Comfortex. It is a division of Hunter Douglas.

Annie Deighnaugh, those looks really nice and are definitely making me lean towards the woven blinds. But now I'm just considering plantation shutters, in place of the curtains... we are expecting a baby and I'm thinking ahead to child-proofing - blinds can be tricky... how do you think that shutters would look on these windows?

Congratulations on the little one to come!

Check out another recent thread where someone is considering shutters. Issues seem to be darkness, cleanliness, ease of cleaning, and I've found some that won't stay open. In your case, they won't solve the window height issue.

If you do go with the roll up blinds, be sure to look into cord savers so that the cords are held high and out of way of little fingers.

I've had shutters before and fund them easier to clean than drapes. I was thinking of outside mounting them so they could cover up the height difference quite effectively! The main issue would be using the sliding door - I don't think we have space for the shutters to open flat on the adjoining wall so that probably rules them out.

Roman/folding vs roller shades for woven wood - how do they compare?