If you have a sliding glass door, there is a good chance that you will want to make sure that you have curtains installed in order to protect your privacy and provide an additional layer of insulation in order to make sure that your heat doesn't escape too quickly. Here are some tips for measuring your sliding glass door to order curtains.

1. Measure Both Sides of the Door

Go to the left side of the sliding glass door and measure the height from the top of the door's frame to the ground. Record this. Then, move to the right side of the door and perform the same measurement. Record this number as well. Compare the two numbers. It is not uncommon for them to be different because all doors are not perfect even due to the irregularities of some walls. You can either have two sets of curtains, with one at a longer length than the other to make sure that everything is covered, or you can order both sets of curtains in the longer length and just hem it to match the slightly shorter side. 

2. Increase the Length

Take the length of the curtains that you have chosen to use and add three to five inches to it. This is going to be necessary in order to make sure that you have enough length to install the curtains so that they are slightly above the door. If you know what manufacturer you are planning on using, then you can go by the specifications that they will have on their website as to how much length to add. If you're not sure, simply decide how many inches above the door frame you want the curtains to be installed and then add that number of inches to the length.

3. Figure Out How Many Inches Wide Your Curtains Need to Be

Finally, figure out how many inches wide your curtains need to be. Measure from the far left of the left side of the door's trim to the far right of the right side of the door's trim. Then, add between 6 and 10 inches to the overall width of the curtains. This will allow you to have between 3 and 6 inches of bunching on either side when the curtains are opened. If you allow this bunching, you won't need to worry too much about any small discrepancies of length that you might find.

For more information, talk to a company like http://www.dschultzwallcoverings.com that specializes in curtains.