Why don't you hang them from the overhang as if it were the ceiling? In my living room we had to hang them from the ceiling and I don't really like the panels you mentioned either - but one day at Ikea I noticed they had used this rod which is meant for a wall in the ceiling http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/50144874
and it looked fine, so I bought one for my place and it works really well, you can't really tell it was meant for a wall!
I'm guessing a lot of rods meant for walls would work on a ceiling or in your case, the overhang. Good luck!

Yeah, the IKEA wire would be best (with corners) http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/60075295
I would wrap it around the overhang and create a little dramatic effect with it. With bland walls like this, I would go for a deep color to give the room a punch.

I actually would prefer to use vertical blinds that slide open to reveal the doors and then you can decorate with a curtain on either side of the blinds. You can make the curtain hardware start right under the overhang so it gives the look of a longer window area.

Try it and let me know what you think!

People use vertical blinds on purpose? Ew.

I think that the problem with using the actual overhang as the ceiling is that there's not much clearance on either side of the window. Unless the blinds fold down EXTREMELY thin, they're going to block some of the light from that gorgeous outdoor space.

Just ignore the overhang -- design the window treatment like it's not even there. It's just such a large projection that hanging curtains on its underside will only draw further attention to it, not minimize it.

It looks like your deck area is a shared space (or it's enormous!), so you might instead want to focus on window treatments that best ensure your privacy. Having a double layer of treatments would work well: curtains over vertical blinds (as kgstyle suggests), a heavy curtain over gauzy curtains, etc.

Do you need privacy? Light control? Color? Softness? Do you use those doors often? Do you use all three doors? Which direction do they open?

Answer those questions first.

How about track curtains with the track installed at the bottom of the overhang (as you would in a ceiling)? This way you can still hang the curtains of your choice and still slide them open easily when required. (checkout the link below)

http://www.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?DeptID=60451&CatID=60451&Grptyp=ENS&ItemId=179c2e1&cm_mmc=ShoppingFeed-_-Google-_-Window-_-JCPenney%20Kirsch%20Universal%20Track%20Rod%20Collection%20%20Black%20Silver

www.lushlivings.com

Wrap the wall-color portion of the header with a fabric-covered cornice board that extends slightly lower than the header's bottom edge (and wraps the sides).Then hang anything you want from a "ceiling mount" track on the bottom of the header.

Personally, I'd do two fixed side panels same fabric as the cornice board, to start with. Each panel about a third or a quarter of the portion of the window they hang above

I'd also probably call in a window treatment professional to show you options.

I would get some very thin curtains to hang from metal rings so that you can push the curtains all the way to the sides and they will be able to scrunch up enough to not get in the way of actually using the doors. I would hang a curtain rod from the front edge of the overhang (you'll need a support in the middle - or maybe have 2 rods that meet in the middle), and have one that goes around the corner to the wall - you can have the first few inches of the corners permanently positioned in that inner portion of the rod, so the curtains can wrap right up to the walls.

You might have to sew together a couple curtains so that you can have them cover the expanse of the windows, or just buy some fabric and make them yourself. I wouldn't suggest those ikea panels, though. They will block large portions of your windows and will always be in the way. The track for those isn't that great either - neither smooth nor quiet.

I would use hospital curtain track and mount it to the overhang. You can use regular curtains with the hospital curtain track, or you could have wide custom curtains made. If you do sheers instead of solid drapes (I don't know if you're wanting them for privacy or just to soften the window's lines) then there shouldn't be a problem with "stacking" them at the ends in the 10" space.

Thanks for your great idea!

I'm looking to achieve more softness and aesthetics than privacy with the slider window. The windows and view to the outside lanai area are the first thing you see when you walk in the front door so i'm looking for a way to frame the space. The entire screened in outdoor space is ours (and its surrounded by trees on the exterior) so privacy is not that big an issue. I love the natural light that comes in so i would be looking for something sheer (but that adds color and punch to the space) that would frame the outside of the windows - not necessary all three sliders. The doors open from each side and we use them both.

Thanks for your ideas - this is great!

I agree w/ the others - Hang your drapery rod from the underside of this...
For the length and the size of this thing, I'd use a fairly chunky rod - both to stand up to the scale but also so it won't bow under the weight of draperies.

It appears that your drapery problem is solved (I agree with the ceiling-mounted rod/drapery idea), but I have another suggestion. The protrusion of that piece is rather odd. To make it look more integrated with the architecture, I'd consider adding some interesting square columns or posts on either end. It would make more of a focal point of your view and ground the whole thing. And, if cove lighting isn't already the reason that thing is there, install it for a nice glow on the ceiling.

I agree with the track on the underside posted by Lushlivings.

You might actually be better off ripping out the overhang. I know it's a rental. First inspect the overhang from all angles and see if it pops off. It probably doesn't, being that large, but if it does then your fine. Then if it looks like a minor rip out ask the landlord if you can rip it out. If it looks like a big job then either ask the landlord to rip it out or see one of the above ideas, there were some good ones.

Patrick (the other one) has it down. Minimize the overhang as a fabric covered cornice and go from there.

I would concur that the best bet would be to ceiling mount a track under the ledge/overhang. It presents a unique mantel for displaying art. There are a wide range of track systems available that would meet your needs. Curtain-Tracks.com is a great resource for this type hardware. The ball bearing carrier style tracks would likely be your best bet.

www.curtain-tracks.com

I would make a fabric covered cornice/pelmet to fit just under the white coving. You would probably make it a depth of about 12 inches.
It would attach to the front and sides of the overhang with 2 or 3 strips of sticky back velcro. Then I would fix a curtain track upwards under the cornice/pelmet. Finally hang curtains.

The fabric covered cornice hides the curtain track. So it does not really matter what it looks like. It also hides the overhang. It looks just like you decided to fit a top treatment to your curtains. No one would ever know it was there.
As to making a fabric covered cornice/pelmet it's not as difficult as you might think. Take a look at this webpage on how to make pelmets.

It has some photos so you can decide if this is for you or not and step by step instructions that will help.
Eskimo's comment about www.curtain-tracks.com is spot on. They have exactly the right kind of ceiling fix curtain tracks that you would need.

Finally at the end of my long ramble, the beauty of these kind cornice and tracks is that they don't cost a fortune. So if you don't want to make a major investment in this window treatment project then this is for you.